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Trump is taking longer to approve disaster aid and denying Democratic states more frequently 41%
By DAVID A. LIEB M.K. WILDEMAN
7/16/2026, 4:05:26 AM
Keywords: Donald Trump, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, George W Bush, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Associated Press, Disaster Planning And Response, Joe Biden, Barack Obama, New York, Politics, Abigail Jackson, Elections, Bill Clinton, Cameron Hamilton, Trump Fema Disaster Declarations
BS Summary: This article contains 32 faulty reasoning types, including Hasty Generalization, Negativity Bias, and Appeal to Authority, with Post Hoc (False Cause) as the most egregious example at 15.5% saturation with 123 hits. Analysis detected 1,400 faulty-reasoning hits from 792 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 45.4% and a BS Rank of 41% (9,834 of 16,550 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 59.40% of the article peer group.
When major disasters strike, Americans are routinely waiting weeks — or even months — to receive presidential approval for aid.
And if they live in a state that didn’t support President Donald Trump, chances are greater that aid will be denied.
Since taking office last year, Trump has approved about 65 requests for major disaster declarations and denied more than two dozen others from states, tribes or territories seeking federal financial assistance following hurricanes, tornadoes, storms, floods and fires.
Trump has taken longer on average to approve disaster requests than any other president since 1989, according to an AP analysis of data dating back to 1989, when a federal law setting new parameters for disaster determinations was implemented.
Because it can take several weeks after a disaster for officials to inspect the damage and submit a request, the total wait time often has exceeded two months.
By comparison, Trump approved major disaster requests in an average of about three weeks during his first term, a pace similar to President Joe Biden.
Their predecessors — Presidents Barack Obama, George W.
Bush, Bill Clinton and George H.W.
Bush — all had average disaster approval times of less than two weeks.
All presidents have taken longer to approve some requests.
But that’s become the norm in Trump’s second term.
Of Trump’s approvals, 70% have taken at least a month — up from about one-quarter of requests during Trump’s first term and Biden’s administration, and fewer than 10% under their predecessors.
“The President’s denial is part of a pattern of extreme partisanship as he tries to shift a heavier economic burden onto blue states.
Disaster aid should be merit-based, not politicized,” Rhode Island’s Democratic U.S.
Senate and House members said in a joint statement.
White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement that “there is no politicization to the President’s decisions on disaster relief.”
Jackson said that Trump conducts a more thorough review than any administration before him, “ensuring American tax dollars are used appropriately and efficiently by the states to supplement — not substitute — their obligation to respond to and recover from disasters.”
The longer the approval process takes, the longer people must wait to receive federal aid for daily living expenses, temporary lodging and home repairs.
Delays in major disaster declarations also can hamper recovery efforts by local officials uncertain whether they will receive federal reimbursement for cleaning up debris and rebuilding infrastructure.
Trump is saying yes to Republicans more than Democrats
During his first term, Trump actually approved a greater share of requests from states that had opposed him than those that supported him.
Yet no other president had such a wide partisan divide in disaster declarations as currently exists under Trump.
Obama approved 87% of the disaster requests from Democratic governors during his second term and 79% from Republican governors, but Obama’s approval rate was identical for states that voted for and against him.
When requests are denied, individuals, insurers and local governments are left to shoulder the costs themselves.
FEMA nominee is pledging faster decisions
FEMA has had four different temporary leaders since Trump took office last year.
One of those, Cameron Hamilton, is awaiting Senate confirmation as the agency’s permanent director.
During a Senate committee hearing last month, Hamilton said he would try to speed up disaster declaration decisions and reimbursements.
He also pledged to ensure that FEMA is objective, fair and reasonable in reviewing disaster declaration requests and making recommendations to the president.
Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL, had been fired as FEMA’s acting director in May 2025 after publicly disagreeing with Trump’s idea of dismantling the agency.
His reemergence signals that Trump now may support changes to FEMA instead of an outright elimination of the agency.
Panel’s recommendations could lead to more denials
A council appointed by Trump has recommended a series of changes to FEMA that would shift greater responsibility to states, potentially reducing the number of major disaster declarations and the amount of federal money paid out.
The council suggested revised criteria to qualify for presidential declarations, including a prerequisite of annual minimum expenditures by states, territories and tribes.
Another recommendation, which would require congressional approval, would reduce the federal government’s share of the disaster aid from a minimum of 75% to 50% of the costs, leaving state and local governments more to cover.
For governments approved for assistance, federal funding could get there quicker — within 30 days of a federal disaster declaration, instead of waiting months or years for reimbursements that are based on proof of expenditures.
For individuals, the council recommended consolidating several different types of aid into one payment targeted for those whose homes are uninhabitable.
Analysis
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