I’d rather see the states take care of their own problems,” the president said. Federal emergency managers from both parties have made the same argument.

Since former President Jimmy Carter created FEMA in 1979, it has become a massive federal agency with a budget of $29.5 billion in fiscal 2023.

President Trump plans to have a "whole big discussion very shortly" on the Federal Emergency Management Agency because he'd "rather see the states take care of their own problems," according to an interview broadcast Wednesday evening.