President Donald Trump visited Western North Carolina on Friday as the region is still struggling to recover from the devastation brought on by Hurricane Helene in September. Trump, who has been a strong advocate for residents of the impacted areas, made it a point to pay a visit quickly within his first few days of returning to the White House.
Many feel that the federal government under the Biden administration has done an insufficient job with helping residents in the region. In contrast, Trump has vowed to support North Carolinians in getting the resources they need, as many are still homeless after having lost everything in the historic flooding endured last year.
“Throughout the transition, both President Trump and Vice President Vance repeatedly reached out to me to check in on how Western North Carolina was doing,” Republican North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said in a statement to Fox News. “That is a testament to how high of a priority the recovery and rebuilding process is for them. President Trump’s visit on Friday is welcome news for the thousands of families dealing with a state of uncertainty when it comes to securing housing.”
During his press conference, President Trump opened the microphone to locals, allowing them to tell their stories. One local pastor detailed how she was forced to sleep on the floor of the church for weeks on end as the need to help others was so great. She and others noted that good Samaritans from around the country sent in supplies while FEMA did nothing.
She said, “The people were so devastated, and I said, I want to be here for them. And they were coming in just day and night, so there’s really no need for me to go home. But we had people from Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas, Indiana, Oklahoma, people from all over we have not received any help, like from the government, anything.” Other behind her noted that “FEMA did nothing.”
Another man stepped up to the microphone, holding his young daughter, explaining that he had yet to receive a payout from his insurance company. “So we’ve been doing a little bit of battling with our insurance and FEMA, we did have proper insurance, with flood insurance and homeowners insurance, but since we had proper insurance, FEMA has not been able to assist us with a whole lot of things. And again, we’ve been having some issues with trying to get some payout for our insurance in a timely manner,” he said.
During another incredible moment, Melania and Trump met one-on-one with survivors, warmly speaking to them and shaking their hands. Nick Sortor, a conservative X personality, posted a video of that and said, “ NOW: President Trump and First Lady Melania are taking the time to meet ONE-ON-ONE with victims of Hurricane Helene in Western NC. Biden ABANDONED these folks.. But help has FINALLY arrived with President Trump.” Watch that here:
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In a recent interview, Trump further addressed his North Carolina visit while speaking with Fox News host Sean Hannity. “The Democrats don’t care about North Carolina. What they’ve done with FEMA is so bad. FEMA is a whole [other] discussion, because all it does is complicate everything,” he said. “So, I’m stopping on Friday. I’m stopping in North Carolina – first stop – because those people were treated very badly by Democrats. And I’m stopping there. We’re going to get that thing straightened out because they’re still suffering from a hurricane from months ago,” he added.
Watch the local pastor share her story:
Watch another resident share his story about insurance problems:
Note: The featured image is a screenshot from the embedded video.