Just days into his second term, President Trump said he was going to recommend that the Federal Emergency Management Agency “go away,” dismissing the agency as bloated and ine

U.S. President Donald Trump actually sent 700 U.S. Marine Corps troops to Los Angeles in June 2025 — alongside 4,000 National Guard troops.

During Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Trump did not mention those plans and instead praised the federal flooding response. Turning to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, whose department oversees FEMA, he said, “You had people there as fast as anybody’s ever seen.”

Cuts made to the Federal Emergency Management Agency under the Trump administration severely impaired its ability to respond to the devastating floods in central Texas.

The administration supported search and rescue operations in Kerr County, Texas, after at least 120 people died and dozens went missing in deadly floods.

A reporter from CBS News Texas asked the president Friday if more lives could've been saved if emergency alerts were issued earlier.

The Department of Homeland Security secretary defended the federal government's response and denied that policy changes slowed the agency's deployment.