Trump Jokes About Withholding Disaster Relief Funding from North Carolina and Calls the State "One of the Worst in the Nation"

At a campaign rally in Gastonia, North Carolina, Trump threatened to cut off disaster aid to the western part of the state.

Talking about the roughly $2 billion in FEMA money the state has already received, Trump told the crowd: "if Michael loses, I'm not sending it," before walking it back — "No, I'm only kidding. You're getting it."

Much of the region is still rebuilding after Hurricane Helene tore through in September 2024, and as of an April 2026 legislative hearing, the state had received only a fraction of the $60 billion in estimated storm damage — officials put the figure at roughly 10–20% recovered, with FEMA reimbursements arriving in scattered rounds of $12 million, $70 million, $97 million and $297 million at a time over more than a year.

Local officials have been blunt about how the process has felt on their end: "every time we get close to the finish line, they change the goal posts," Avery County Commissioner Dennis Aldridge told state lawmakers.

The same night, Trump trashed the state's public safety record. He told the Gastonia crowd that North Carolina "was beautiful" but now is criminally dangerous and “one of the worst in the whole nation."

That claim doesn't hold up. North Carolina's violent crime rate is actually below the national rate of 327.6, according to a Newsweek analysis of FBI data. The same day as the rally, the White House itself put out a press release citing state and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police data to say crime in North Carolina and Charlotte had fallen, crediting the administration for the drop.

Gov. Stein's response

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein posted on X that threatening disaster aid over an election outcome is "no way to run a country."

This isn't the first time

In July 2026, Trump denied $227 million in disaster aid requests from four Democratic-led states — New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island — after a February blizzard, just two days after approving $846 million for six Republican-led states. Reporting found federal regional FEMA and NOAA offices had already determined all four states met the standard threshold for aid before Trump overruled them. A White House spokesperson denied any politicization, saying disaster requests get "a more thorough review... than any Administration has before him." Politico's tally found Trump had approved about 89% of disaster requests from Republican-led states versus 23% from Democratic-led ones.