Disaster relief funding is creeping into Trump's midterm rhetoric. Critics say it has no place there

President Donald Trump is drawing criticism for tying federal disaster aid to his midterm campaigning just as a major hurricane heads toward the Gulf Coast. The White House denies any politics are involved. Spokesperson Lauren Bis said his relief decisions are free of politicization, and a FEMA spokesperson said claims of political motivation misrepresent how the agency works, according to ABC News.

The pattern, though, is visible. Trump has paired endorsements with money announcements, including a pledge of $17. 9 million to Wisconsin as he backed Rep. Tom Tiffany for governor. Gov. Tony Evers's office said it had not been told of the funds. At a rally for Michael Whatley, the Senate candidate in North Carolina, Trump joked that the state's long-awaited Hurricane Helene money might not arrive if Whatley lost, then said he was kidding. Before appearing with Sen. Jon Husted in Ohio, he approved a declaration covering seven of the 23 counties Gov. Mike DeWine had requested, while 15 other requests, two of them from Hawaii, stayed unanswered.

An Associated Press review from July found approval of over three-quarters of requests from states Trump carried in 2024, versus fewer than half from the rest.

Summarized by PolitiKool from ABC News’s reporting. Read the full story at ABC News →