President Donald Trump is visiting North Carolina Friday for one of his first trips of his second term. Follow along here for live coverage.

The president cited the disasters during his inauguration speech Monday as examples of an insufficient federal response to communities in need.

President Donald Trump is heading into the fifth day of his second term in office, striving to remake the traditional boundaries of Washington by asserting unprecedented executive power. The president is also heading to hurricane-battered western North Carolina and wildfire-ravaged Los Angeles,

President Donald Trump will visit storm-ravaged North Carolina on Friday in his first trip outside Washington since the start of his second term.

Donald and Melania Trump are stopping in North Carolina, California and Nevada during the first second term trip. Follow along for live updates.

In North Carolina, the president pledged “the support that you need to quickly recover and rebuild” after a hurricane. His message to fire-ravaged California had a different tone.

President Trump wants states to have more control over disaster recovery efforts and suggested he would condition federal assistance to California after the fires on the state toughening its voter identification requirements.

Donald Trump, who has been a vocal critic of the Biden administration’s response to Hurricane Helene, which struck North Carolina in September 2024, said that he would like to see states assume more responsibility in the aftermath of natural disasters, rather than the federal government.

North Carolina was hit by a hurricane in September 2024, while Los Angeles was recently struck by wildfires. Read more at straitstimes.com.

During his visit on Friday, President Trump is scheduled to tour areas hit by Helene and get updates on recovery efforts.

State and local officials hailed the move as a much-needed boost to Western North Carolina’s economy after Hurricane Helene.