Trump avoids talk of scrapping FEMA after more than 100 killed in Texas
flash flood
[July 09, 2025]
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has avoided talking about his
plan to scrap the federal disaster response agency after the
catastrophic flash flood in Texas that killed more than 100 people,
including children attending a girls-only camp.
Asked shortly after the disaster whether he still intended to phase out
the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Trump said it wasn't the right
time to talk about it. Nor did he mention such plans during a nearly
two-hour meeting with his Cabinet on Tuesday.
The Republican president instead opened the meeting by having Homeland
Security Secretary Kristi Noem talk about her visit to Kerrville, Texas,
on Saturday, a day after floodwaters swept away riverside campers and
homeowners in the wee hours of the Fourth of July holiday.
Her voice breaking, she recounted leading the federal response, telling
the meeting that she was overcome with emotion during the trip and had
“kind of fallen apart.”
“Very emotional," she said, “but also just so tragic.”
Noem said “Texas is strong” but insisted that, “we, as a federal
government, don’t manage these disasters. The state does. We come in and
support them, and that's exactly what we did here in this situation."
“We’re cutting through the paperwork of the old FEMA streamlining it,
much like your vision of how FEMA should operate,” Noem said of Trump’s
promise to scrap the agency. Noem added, that Americans helping one
another after such tragic events is proof that “God created us to take
care of each other.”
Trump will go to the scene
Trump said his wife, first lady Melania Trump, will accompany him when
he visits Friday. It will be his second trip to survey the wreckage of a
natural disaster. After he returned to office in January, Trump visited
Hurricane Helene damage in North Carolina and the aftermath of
California's wildfires.
Noem said first responders were “still looking for a lot of little
girls” who remain missing after Camp Mystic, a century-old all-girls
Christian summer camp, was swamped by the floodwaters, and she described
gut-wrenching scenes of parents pulling their children's belongings out
of the mud.
“The parents that were looking for their children and picking up their
daughters' stuffed animals out of the mud and finding their daughter's
shoe that might be laying in the cabin and, just hugging and comforting
people matters a lot,” the secretary said.
“I’m extremely grateful for God’s hand in that whole situation because
hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people were saved,” she said. “And
and this is a time for all of us in this country to remember that we
were created to serve each other.”
Trump compared what happened to the breach of a dam, saying that when
you see one break "it's not a pretty sight and wipes out everything. And
this is the kind of thing that built up so fast.”
A wall of water slammed into camps and homes along the edge of the
Guadalupe River before daybreak Friday, pulling people out of their
cabins, tents and trailers and dragging them for miles past floating
tree trunks and cars. Some survivors were found clinging to trees.
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President Donald Trump, center, speaking during a cabinet meeting at
the White House, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Washington. (AP
Photo/Evan Vucci)
More than 100 people were killed, including at least 27 campers and
counselors. Officials said Monday that 10 campers and one counselor
still have not been found. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott later said that at
least 161 people are still missing.
Talk of abolishing FEMA is muted
The flood and its devastation appear to have, for the moment, tamped
down talk by Trump and Noem of scaling back FEMA, which helps states
respond after hurricanes, tornadoes and other natural disasters by
providing food, water and temporary housing and federal financial and
other assistance.
“We want to wean off of FEMA and we want to bring it down to the state
level,” Trump said in June during an Oval Office appearance with
administration officials to talk about preparations for summer
wildfires.
Trump and Noem have repeatedly signaled their desire to overhaul, if not
completely eliminate, the 46-year-old agency. While bipartisan support
exists for overhauling its operations, experts say dismantling the
agency completely would leave gaps in crucial services and funding.
Trump has accused the agency of political bias, suggesting people in
western North Carolina, which was hit hard by Helene, weren't helped as
much as they could have been under his Democratic predecessor, Joe
Biden. He has said he wants to extract concessions from California's
Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom, in return for disaster assistance.
The president signs a ‘major disaster’ declaration
Asked on Sunday if he still planned to phase out FEMA, Trump brushed off
the reporter's question.
“Well, FEMA is something we can talk about later but, right now, they're
busy working so, we'll leave it at that,” he said before departing New
Jersey to return to the White House.
He signed a major disaster declaration for Texas, allowing the federal
aid to flow.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt gave an indirect answer on
Monday when she was asked by reporters about the president's phase-out
plans.
“The president wants to ensure American citizens always have what they
need during times of need, whether that assistance comes from states or
the federal government, that’s a policy discussion that will continue,”
she said. “And the president has always said he wants states to do as
much as they can if not more.” She commended the “tremendous job” being
done by Texas officials.
Trump in January created a council to assess FEMA and issue a report,
which is due in November.
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