Written by Nandita Bose and Steve Holland

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Friday brought up the Federal Emergency Management Agency shutdown during a trip to disaster zones in North Carolina and California, where he pledged government support and ran with Democratic officials.

After taking office on Monday, Trump’s visit displayed a willingness to make early appearances in the two states, which have been hit by a hurricane and wildfires, respectively. But he punctuated the visits by criticizing FEMA, vowing to sign an executive order to reform or eliminate the main federal agency that responds to natural disasters.

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

Trump has blamed FEMA for emergency relief efforts there and said he would prefer to give states federal money to deal with the same disasters.

The president also criticized California’s response to the Los Angeles fires, which caused widespread destruction, but pledged to work with Governor Gavin Newsom and offered assistance to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass during his visit to the state.

“We’re looking to get something completed. And the way you get it completed is you work together to get the country under control, and we’re going to get it. They’re going to need a lot of federal help,” Trump told reporters after Newsom met him on the tarmac when Air Force One later landed in Los Angeles.

Three wildfires still threaten the area.

Newsom, a Democrat who has had a tense relationship with the Republican leader, told Trump that California would need his support.

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

During a meeting with California officials, Trump clashed with Bass and another Democratic lawmaker, pressing the mayor to use her emergency powers, allow people to return to their properties quickly, and let them remove debris on their own. Bass stressed the importance of safety, and actor Brad Sherman praised FEMA’s work.

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

Water battle, FEMA shutdown?

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

Water shortages caused some taps to run dry in the wealthy Pacific area, hampering the early response. When the fires struck, one reservoir that could have supplied more water to the area had been empty for a year. Officials promised to investigate why it dried out.

BAS and fire officials said the hydrants were not designed to handle such a massive disaster, and stressed the unprecedented nature of the fires.

Meanwhile, experts doubt that Trump alone could shut down FEMA.

It likely requires action in Congress, said Rob Verchick, a former Obama administration official at the Environmental Protection Agency and now a professor at Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans.

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

FEMA brings emergency personnel, supplies and equipment to help areas begin to recover from natural disasters. The agency’s funding has soared in recent years as extreme weather events have increased demand for its services.

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

FEMA was the target of Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term prepared by his allies and from which the president distanced himself during the election. The plan called for dismantling the Department of Homeland Security and moving FEMA to the Department of the Interior or the Department of Transportation.

Additionally, he proposed changing the formula the agency uses to determine when federal disaster assistance is in place, and 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 Helen, an accusation the Biden administration dismissed as misinformation.

In an X post on Friday, U.S. Representative Deborah Ross of North Carolina said FEMA was a critical partner in the state’s hurricane recovery.

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

The trip to North Carolina and California caps a week during which Trump has moved with astonishing speed to deliver on campaign promises on illegal immigration, the size of the federal workforce, energy, the environment, gender and diversity, and pardons of jailed supporters for January.