Donald Trump has threatened to withhold federal disaster aid from North Carolina if his endorsed candidate does not win in the midterms.
During a campaign rally in Gastonia to show support for Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley, the 80-year-old president accused Democrats of not doing “a damn thing” to help those in the Tar Heel State after the devastating Hurricane Helene hit in September 2024.
Trump also lashed out at former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Whatley’s Democratic opponent in November, accusing him of doing “absolutely nothing” to help, even though he requested billions of dollars in relief money for the unprecedented recovery effort.
“We spent more than $2 billion in FEMA funding. You’re waiting for some additional money to take care of some of the back. And I’m going to get that to you, Michael,” Trump told the crowd on Wednesday. “Now, if Michael loses, I’m not sending it, OK?”
Trump’s comment drew both laughter and groans from the North Carolina audience, prompting the president to add: “No, I’m only kidding. You’re getting it.”
However, Trump has a history of deciding which states receive federal relief money based on petty political reasons.
In July, Politico reported that Trump overruled his own administration to block the release of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal disaster relief to New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island—four Democratic-led states that did not vote for him in the 2024 election—after they experienced record-breaking snowfall in February.
Trump intervened and denied relief even after the states’ governors requested it, a move one former FEMA official described as unprecedented.
In comparison, Trump approved nearly 90 percent of requests for federal disaster aid from Republican-led states.
Also in July, The New York Times revealed that federal officials admitted in court documents that the administration scrapped hundreds of federal grants and energy projects “based solely” on whether states were governed by Democrats and had supported Kamala Harris in 2024.
The White House insisted there is “no politicization” to the president’s decisions on disaster relief aid
Trump appeared in North Carolina as part of his push to try to avoid an electoral wipeout for the GOP in the midterm elections.
Democrats will see North Carolina, a state Trump won three times, as one of the key races they can win as they try to flip control of the Senate in November.
Polls have frequently suggested that Cooper will easily defeat Whatley, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, in the Senate race.
An Elon University poll published Monday showed that 49 percent of likely North Carolina voters backed Cooper, compared with 38 percent who supported Whatley.
Even Republican pollster Trafalgar Group had Cooper with a 6-point lead over Whatley (48 percent to 42 percent) in a survey released Sept. 11.
