AP Finds Trump Slower On Disaster Declarations, More Denials For Blue States

President Donald Trump has been taking far longer to approve major disaster declarations and has denied them more often for Democratic governors and Democratic-voting states since his second term began in January 2025.^[1]

Since his second term began in January 2025, he has approved about 65 major disaster requests and denied more than two dozen others.^[1] From January 2025 through mid-2026, he approved about 80% of requests from Republican governors and about 60% from Democratic governors.^[1] He approved more than three-fourths of requests from states that voted for him in 2024, but less than half from states that did not.^[1] Average approval time during his second term is about 1.5 months.^[1] By contrast, presidents from George H.W. Bush through Barack Obama typically approved disaster requests in less than two weeks, while approvals ran about three weeks during Trump's first term and during President Biden's term.^[1]

A Trump-appointed FEMA review council has recommended that states meet minimum annual disaster-spending thresholds, cut the standard federal cost share from 75% to 50%, and speed some payments to within 30 days of a declaration.^[1] Those changes would shift more costs to states and could reduce or slow federal aid for disasters that face longer approval times.

1. PBS News