Trump’s First Term Disaster Mitigation Record Was a Warning. His Second Term Proves It.
Trump Administration Approved *Zero* Hazard Mitigation Requests in Six-Month Period While Gutting FEMA
WASHINGTON, D.C. – New findings from the Center for Economic and Policy Research reveal that during Trump’s first term, he denied 94% of requests for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). The program provides critical federal dollars to states and local communities to develop hazard mitigation plans and rebuild in ways that reduce future disaster losses. Eleven months into his second administration, Trump’s pattern is unmistakable: disaster relief and community resilience are not priorities.
Since taking office, Trump has attacked disaster response on every front. After proposing to eliminate FEMA entirely, his administration cut 20% of its staff, froze emergency funds, and attempted to cancel the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, a move later blocked by the courts. New bureaucratic barriers compound the damage: Secretary Kristi Noem must now approve any contract over $100,000, a requirement that delayed search and rescue operations in Texas during the deadly Hill Country floods.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace found in September that the last time the administration approved an HMGP funding request was March 18, even though governors made 42 requests in that six-month window. None had been approved. Communities across the country are being left to face increasingly severe and frequent disasters without the tools to prepare or protect themselves. While past administrations of both political parties have rejected more than half of the requests because the bar is high, no recent president has denied every single one as Trump has done so far.
Former FEMA employees warned about exactly this earlier this year: a deliberate dismantling of the systems that keep Americans safe. Trump’s approach to disaster relief would set our country back decades, leaving communities more vulnerable with each passing storm.
