ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Newly appointed President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump visited Western North Carolina on Jan. 24.
During his visit, President Trump met with supporters and families impacted by Hurricane Helene where his overarching message was clear: “Fema has failed the people of Western North Carolina”.
“Now I’m here in a position where I can do something,” the president said.
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In his first official visit since returning to the White House, President Trump, and the first lady arrived in Asheville, vowing to help Helene victims as FEMA’s future hangs in the balance under this new administration.
“FEMA just hasn’t done the job, and we’re looking at the whole concept of FEMA,” President Trump said. “I like frankly the concept when North Carolina gets hit, the governor takes care of it.”
North Carolina Democratic Governor Josh Stein was present at the Asheville Regional Airport to greet the president and talk about a way forward.
“I’m really grateful that the president came here today,” Governor Stein said. “I made two requests for the president: one is for an additional federal package — that we need another $20 billion to help us recover from the federal government, and a 100% reimbursement on our cleanup for another six months.”
FEMA’s efforts to help the thousands of displaced people throughout the WNC mountains continue to be the focus in the early days of the Trump White House.
Congressman Chuck Edwards, alongside the president, arrived home to the mountains aboard Air Force One.
“FEMA has to either be eliminated or overhauled,” Edwards said. “It’s clearly a broken bureaucratic system.”
Edwards said that President Trump is looking to push federal money into WNC with the stroke of a pen.
“We’ve seen a number of executive orders come out of the White House already, which seems to be fast-tracking a lot of the ideas that Congress has been wanting to accomplish over the last couple of years,” Edwards said.
“People are also rebuilding their houses — how long does it take to build a house, right? It takes time, and I want them to build houses bigger, better, and nicer than they had before so they can at least get something out of this disaster,” President Trump said. “This was a real disaster.”
In addition to President Trump meeting with supporters at the airport, there was talk of him doing an aerial tour of the hardest hit areas; but an aerial tour is not his M.O.
President Trump instead opted for a boots-on-the-ground approach and headed to Swannanoa to meet with a family and other supporters there.
This visit marked the president’s second visit to Swannanoa since the storm, with him arriving in the area which still shows signs of devastation nearly five months later.
There, President Trump heard firsthand accounts from three families who lost their homes.
Below are a few of their statements:
“We didn’t think we were going to make it at all — our house was 25 feet underwater.”
“It lifted his home and the house that I grew up in and crashed it into our barn.”
Before his departure, President Trump announced that he would be signing an executive order to lift regulations, meaning roads in WNC can be rebuilt without permits.
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“We’ll be at your side for the rebuilding and no American is going to be left behind,” the president said.
President Trump and Governor Josh Stein both said they will work together on a plan for WNC.
In the meantime, the president said the Chairman of the Republican National Committee and North Carolina native Michael Whatley, would help coordinate recovery efforts in the state going forward.
