RALEIGH, N.C. — President Donald Trump proposed eliminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency during a Friday visit to Hurricane Helene-ravaged Western North Carolina.

It was Trump’s first visit to the state since the start of his second term and his second trip to Western North Carolina since the tropical storm hit in September. Helene killed more than 100 people and mangled infrastructure, washing out roads, power lines and water treatment facilities.

Instead of FEMA providing aid to Western North Carolina, Trump said he wants states to handle disaster relief and direct the flow of federal dollars. He repeatedly called for Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, a North Carolina native, to lead Helene recovery efforts and pledged additional federal assistance. He avoided, however, providing specifics about what Whatley’s role would be.

The president also repeated false claims about FEMA’s work in North Carolina since Helene hit.

“They’ve been abused by what happened,” Trump said of Western North Carolina.

He was joined by Gov. Josh Stein, U.S. first lady Melania Trump, members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation, evangelist Franklin Graham, state Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, state House Speaker Destin Hall and other members of the North Carolina House. The president was also scheduled to tour wildfire damage in California Friday.

Trump said at a storm briefing in Fletcher that FEMA needs an “overhaul” and to potentially be eliminated. Instead, Trump said states better understand community needs and can more efficiently direct aid.

“That’s what we have states for. ... A governor can handle something very quickly,” he said.

Trump didn’t directly address questions from reporters about the timeline for changes to FEMA.

He made similar comments in a Wednesday interview with Fox News. As a candidate, Trump was a vocal critic of FEMA, repeating claims that the agency denied aid to North Carolinians with Trump signs on their property. As a candidate, he also frequently made unproven claims the Biden administration slowed its response out of political retribution.

“Biden did a bad job,” he said Friday.

Biden and now-former Gov. Roy Cooper repeatedly pushed back on claims by Trump about storm relief efforts — at times calling them “a flat out lie” and saying federal, state and local resources were deployed across Western North Carolina.

Trump said he’s open to sending more financial aid to North Carolina but doesn’t have a specific number in mind. Stein, who attended Friday’s storm briefing, said in a statement he asked the president “for his support” of $20 billion in additional disaster relief for North Carolina and “100% reimbursement of eligible FEMA expenses for another six months.”

The Democrat called it a “positive signal” that Trump visited Western North Carolina just days after returning to office.

“Families, businesses and communities are struggling and need these urgent resources to help them rebuild,” he said.

Trump said at Friday’s briefing he hopes to have a “long” relationship with Stein and wants the governor to work with Whatley and the state’s congressional delegation on storm relief moving forward.

Asked if he would add conditions on federal support to North Carolina like he wants to do for California wildfire relief, Trump said North Carolina’s situation is “a different kind of a thing.”

At a stop in Swannanoa, Trump described “surging housing solutions” to residents displaced by Helene in addition to funding short-term hotel stays.

The state’s two U.S. senators, Thom Tillis and Ted Budd, previously said their offices heard from dozens of people kicked out of hotels because FEMA housing vouchers expired.

FEMA later announced an extension of the Transitional Sheltering Assistance program, which pays for hotel stays, and Stein asked FEMA to extend the aid for all eligible North Carolina residents by six months. Local nonprofit leaders told The Charlotte Observer communication issues created uncertainty about the extension.

Tillis said in a statement on Trump’s visit FEMA “made little progress in providing direct housing solutions for those most affected by Helene.”

“I look forward to working with the Trump-Vance Administration to ensure that every available federal resource is deployed and that red tape preventing families from accessing housing is eliminated,” he said.

Trump said he’ll deploy the Army Corp of Engineers to make the region’s water systems and other infrastructure “more reliable.” The president also said he’ll issue an executive order eliminating “red tape” for road repairs. Many went weeks without clean running water due to damage from the storm which also washed out numerous roadways.

“We’re going to go through a permitting process called no permitting. Just get it done,” Trump said.

During the news conference in Swannanoa, Western North Carolina residents shared stories about surviving Helene and their experiences since the storm, including finding human remains, helping neighbors, navigating insurance claims and requesting aid from FEMA.

Ramona Nix, pastor of the Eagle Rock Church, said her congregation took in displaced residents from throughout the state. She recalled an elderly woman starting to cry when offered a hot cup of coffee.

“The need was so great. The people were so desperate ... They were coming in day and night,” she said.

Trump repeated false claims of FEMA giving support to migrants instead of North Carolina residents. FEMA does distribute funding to some migrant service programs, but those programs are funded by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, not FEMA’s disaster fund.

He made similar comments while in the community about 15 minutes outside Asheville in October during a campaign swing through North Carolina.

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