Trump’s lies and conspiracies about Hurricanes Helene and Milton hurt recovery efforts

Trump’s lies have had real-world consequences; Americans in affected communities have been reluctant to apply for aid, have worried about whether their homes or land will be seized, and have claimed FEMA has ignored or abandoned rescue efforts in communities. 

Over the past three weeks, Hurricanes Helene and Milton have pounded large swaths of the United States.

The storms have killed nearly 250 people combined, with hundreds more missing and millions still without power in the southeastern US. 

Despite the continued federal response to both storms, Donald Trump, some other Republican politicians, and dozens of far-right activists have spread a barrage of lies, disinformation, and outright conspiracy theories about the hurricanes, what caused them, and the federal response to them.

Trump has repeatedly claimed the federal response from the Biden-Harris administration hasn’t been enough, as he’s sought to exploit the hurricane response for political gain.

“There’s nobody that’s handled a hurricane or storm worse than what they’re doing right now,” Trump said earlier this month at a rally in Michigan about Hurricane Helene. 

Trump has particularly focused on spreading disinformation about FEMA not having enough funding because it was used to manage undocumented immigrants, the response to the recovery effort in affected states, and the amount of aid survivors are being given. 

Those lies have had real-world consequences; because of the disinformation, Americans in affected communities have been reluctant to apply for aid, have worried their homes or land will be seized, have claimed FEMA has ignored or abandoned rescue efforts in communities, and in some cases, have even threatened FEMA workers and meteorologists. 

In reality, elected officials from both sides of the aisle have thanked the Biden-Harris administration for its recovery efforts and urged affected communities to apply for FEMA assistance.

“We’re grateful for the quick actions and close communications that we’ve had with the President and with the FEMA team,” North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat,  said in a statement. 

Republican South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster called the federal response “superb.” Tennessee’s Republican Gov. Bill Lee concurred, saying that “there is a great deal of hope…behind the effort, the coordinated effort, in this community to begin to rebuild.”

Tampa’s Democratic Mayor Jane Castor said on Oct. 1 that “the federal response has been nothing short of amazing.”

“I actually got a personal call from Vice President Harris yesterday, wanting to know if there was anything that we needed in our area,” she said. “So we’ve been very fortunate at a local level, state level, federal level…getting the resources that we need.”

Breaking down the lies

The lie Trump has repeated most frequently has been that FEMA was short on funding because it spent money on undocumented immigrants. 

Trump has joined Republican lawmakers and right-wing commentators in blaming the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) decision last year to award $640 million in FEMA-administered funds to assist state and local governments in dealing with an influx of both asylum seekers and migrants for a funding shortfall.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told reporters earlier this month that FEMA does not have enough funding to make it through hurricane season, prompting Republicans to distort his remarks and blame the potential shortfall of funding on the DHS allocation last year.

In reality, those funds came from DHS via the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency, not FEMA. They were simply administered by FEMA in partnership with the CBP.

Those facts didn’t stop Trump from continuing to spread lies about the Biden-Harris administration and FEMA funding.

“They stole the FEMA money like they stole it from a bank so they could give it to their illegal immigrants that they want to have vote for them this season,” Trump said at the rally in Michigan. “Kamala spent all her FEMA money, billions of dollars, on housing for illegal migrants. Many of whom should not be in our country.”

Trump has also repeatedly claimed that $1 billion was “stolen” from FEMA for migrants and has gone “missing.” This has been thoroughly debunked. 

Earlier this month, Trump claimed at a rally in Pennsylvania that Americans who lost their homes were only being offered $750 in federal aid. But as FEMA explained earlier in the week, that money is only the immediate, upfront aid storm survivors can get to cover basic needs like food, water, baby formula, and emergency supplies. All survivors are eligible to apply for additional assistance. 

And while Trump is blaming the Biden-Harris administration for supposedly using FEMA disaster funds to manage undocumented immigrants, his administration actually did that exact thing.

As reported by The Washington Post, Trump diverted nearly $10 million in funding from FEMA to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement to use for immigrant detention programs in 2018.

And in 2019, the Trump administration told Congress that it was taking $155 million from DHS’ disaster fund to pay for immigration detention facilities and temporary hearing locations for asylum seekers who’d been forced to wait in Mexico. The monthly reports issued by the FEMA disaster fund show $38 million was taken away and given to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in August of that year.

Additionally, Trump said earlier this month that Biden hasn’t answered calls from Georgia’s governor about Hurricane Helene, despite the fact that Gov. Brian Kemp said just hours before that he had spoken with Biden the day prior.

Trump also cited baseless “reports” about anti-Republican bias in the North Carolina storm response on Truth Social. It’s unclear what reports the former president is referring to, and there’s no apparent basis for the claim that the Biden-Harris administration and North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper are abandoning certain communities based on political affiliation.

Trump’s lies have led to “a reckless, irresponsible, relentless promotion of disinformation” about the federal response to both Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton, according to President Biden.

“It’s beyond ridiculous. It’s got to stop,” Biden said from the White House. “In moments like this, there are no red or blue states. There’s one United States of America, where neighbors are helping neighbors.”

Some Republican politicians, like right-wing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), have even gone so far as suggesting that Democrats control the weather. This conspiracy has gained steam online, with some suggesting that Democrats specifically targeted red states with the hurricanes.

“Now the claims are getting even more bizarre,” Biden said last week of this rumor. “It’s beyond ridiculous. It’s so stupid. It’s got to stop.”

The lies and conspiracies have caused real harm too. North Carolina Rep. Lindsey Prather (D), who represents part of Buncombe County, told HuffPost that misinformation has affected the recovery effort.

“The biggest issue is rumors and fake memes and photos of people being trapped in areas around the county, and we send folks out to rescue them, and there’s no one there to be rescued,” Prather said, noting that such efforts require resources that could be used elsewhere.

Prather also recently shared some other real-world effects the misinformation has had. 

“Folks are showing up to places and demanding to know why FEMA is taking people’s land,” she said. “People (are) encouraging other people not to apply for FEMA assistance, and people (are) claiming that the government is not helping.” 

Prather also said that because people are under the impression that the government has left them by the wayside, some of them are attempting rescue missions of their own and getting injured. 

“They’re getting chainsaw injuries, people who are working with chainsaws who are not experienced,” she said. “We have cleaning crews that are experienced and that can do those things.” 

FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell told reporters that rumors about hurricane aid are costing people essential help, as well. 

“People that have been impacted are afraid to apply for our assistance,” she said. “If I can’t get them to apply, I can’t give them the money and the resources that they’re eligible for.” 

She added that FEMA workers are receiving threats due to the amount of misinformation being shared. Over the weekend, the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office in North Carolina even arrested a man – William Jacob Parsons – for making threats against FEMA employees. 

The scope of lies, rumors, and conspiracies is so vast that FEMA was forced to launch a “rumor response” webpage dedicated to debunking them. 

Some Republicans have even been forced to issue statements debunking the lies and misinformation, because it’s affecting their constituents. Take North Carolina Congressman Chuck Edwards, for example, who published a post on his congressional website debunking eight different lies that have spread in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene — including several spread by Trump. 

“We have seen a level of support that is unmatched by most any other disaster nationwide,” Edwards said. “But amidst all of the support, we have also seen an uptick in untrustworthy sources trying to spark chaos by sharing hoaxes, conspiracy theories, and hearsay about hurricane response efforts across our mountains.” 

Edwards then proceeded to push back on “the outrageous rumors that have been circulated online.” 

“I encourage you to remember that everything you see on Facebook, X, or any other social media platform is not always fact,” he wrote. “Please make sure you are fact checking what you read online with a reputable source.”