By Nandita Bose and Steve Holland

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday floated the shutdown of the Federal Emergency Management Agency during a trip to disaster areas in North Carolina and California, where he pledged government support and met with -sparring with Democratic officials.

Fresh from taking office on Monday, Trump’s visit shows a desire to show up early in the two states, which have been hit by a hurricane and large fires, respectively. But he punctuated the visits with criticism of FEMA, vowing to sign an executive order to overhaul or eliminate the main federal agency that responds to natural disasters.

“FEMA has become a disaster,” he said during a tour of a North Carolina neighborhood devastated by Hurricane Helene in September. “I think we recommend that FEMA go away.”

Trump has accused FEMA of bungling emergency relief efforts there and said he wants states to be given federal money to manage disasters on their own.

The president also criticized California’s response to the Los Angeles fires, which caused widespread destruction, but he promised to work with Governor Gavin Newsom and offered help to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass while visiting the state.

“We’re looking to get something done. And the way you get it done is by working with state governments, and we’re going to get it done. They need a lot of federal help,” Trump told reporters after meeting with Newsom in tarmac when Air Force One landed later in Los Angeles.

Three large fires still threaten the region.

Newsom, a Democrat with a strained relationship with the Republican leader, told Trump that California needed his support.

Trump accused Newsom and Bass of “gross incompetence” and Republican colleagues in Congress threatened to withhold disaster aid.

During a meeting with California officials, Trump sparred with Bass and another Democratic lawmaker, pressuring the mayor to use his emergency powers, allowing people to return to their properties immediately, and let them remove the debris themselves. Bass emphasized the importance of safety and the lawmaker, Representative Brad Sherman, praised the work of FEMA.

Trump asked Richard Grenell, a former ambassador to Germany, to represent him in responding to the California fires.

WATER FIGHT, FEMA SHUTDOWN?

Trump previously threatened to withhold aid to California and North Carolina repeated a false claim that Newsom and other officials refused to provide water from the northern part of the state to fight the fires.

The lack of water caused some hydrants in the wealthy Pacific Palisades to dry up, hampering early response. When the fire broke out, one of the reservoirs that could have supplied more water to the area had been empty for a year. Officials promised an investigation into why it was dry.

Bass and fire officials said the hydrants were not designed to deal with such a large disaster, and emphasized the unprecedented nature of the fires.

Meanwhile, experts doubt Trump alone can shut down FEMA.

Rob Verchick, a former Obama administration official at the Environmental Protection Agency and now a professor at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, said eliminating FEMA would likely require action by Congress.

He said FEMA was created by former President Jimmy Carter by executive order but was given tasks and funding by Congress for the nation’s emergency response programs.

FEMA brings emergency personnel, supplies and equipment to help areas recover from natural disasters. Funding for the agency has surged in recent years as severe weather events increase demand for its services.

The agency has 10 regional offices and employs more than 20,000 people across the country.

FEMA is a target of Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term prepared by his allies who distanced themselves from the president during the election. The plan calls for disbanding the Department of Homeland Security and moving FEMA to the Department of the Interior or the Department of Transportation.

In addition, it proposed changing the formula the agency uses to determine whether federal disaster assistance is needed, shifting the costs of disaster prevention and response to the states.

Trump complained that his predecessor Joe Biden did not do enough to help western North Carolina recover from Helene, an accusation the Biden administration dismissed as misinformation.

In a post on X on Friday, Democratic US Representative Deborah Ross of North Carolina said FEMA was an important partner in the state’s recovery from the storm.

“I appreciate President Trump’s concern about Western NC, but eliminating FEMA would be a disaster for our state,” he said.

The trip to North Carolina and California culminates a week in which Trump has moved with remarkable speed to fulfill campaign promises on illegal immigration, the size of the federal workforce, energy and the environment, gender and diversity. policies, and apologies to supporters imprisoned in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.