'Mean'
Trump's new FEMA chief whines after 'joke' leaves new staff stunned
Adam Nichols
June 3, 2025
Adam Nichols
June 3, 2025
RAW STORY
FILE PHOTO: Pedestrians walk through a flooded street as Tropical Storm Helene strikes, in Boone, North Carolina, U.S. September 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/File Photo
President Donald Trump's new chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency whined about "mean-spirited" jokes after a comment about hurricane season left his new staff dumbfounded.
David Richardson casually admitted at an all-hands meeting that he didn't know the U.S. had a hurricane season — just a day after it began.
Four sources who spoke to Reuters confirmed the bizarre exchange, which has set off alarm bells throughout the agency tasked with responding to natural disasters. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has already warned of an "above-normal" season, projecting 6 to 10 hurricanes, with up to five potentially reaching major status.
But in a statement given to the Daily Beast, Richardson's spokespeople passed the staggering comment off as a light-hearted quip.
“Despite mean-spirited attempts to falsely frame a joke as policy, there is no uncertainty about what FEMA will be doing this hurricane season,” a Homeland Security spokesperson said.
While the Department of Homeland Security scrambled to downplay the incident as a "joke," insiders paint a different picture. Richardson, a Marine veteran with zero disaster response experience, was parachuted into the role last month after Trump unceremoniously fired his predecessor for daring to disagree with the president's vision of gutting FEMA.
Adding fuel to the fire, Richardson announced he wouldn't be issuing a new hurricane season plan, despite earlier promises. This leadership vacuum has left FEMA staff in disarray, with one source describing a state of utter confusion within the agency.
Trump's crusade against FEMA is already having real-world consequences. The agency recently denied North Carolina's plea for extended hurricane damage reimbursement after a storm claimed over 100 lives. In St. Louis, Mayor Cara Spencer is still waiting for FEMA assistance days after a devastating tornado caused $1 billion in damage.
As coastal communities brace for what could be a catastrophic hurricane season, the question on everyone's mind is: With a FEMA chief who doesn't even know hurricanes have a season, who will be there to pick up the pieces when disaster strikes?
FILE PHOTO: Pedestrians walk through a flooded street as Tropical Storm Helene strikes, in Boone, North Carolina, U.S. September 27, 2024. REUTERS/Jonathan Drake/File Photo
President Donald Trump's new chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency whined about "mean-spirited" jokes after a comment about hurricane season left his new staff dumbfounded.
David Richardson casually admitted at an all-hands meeting that he didn't know the U.S. had a hurricane season — just a day after it began.
Four sources who spoke to Reuters confirmed the bizarre exchange, which has set off alarm bells throughout the agency tasked with responding to natural disasters. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has already warned of an "above-normal" season, projecting 6 to 10 hurricanes, with up to five potentially reaching major status.
But in a statement given to the Daily Beast, Richardson's spokespeople passed the staggering comment off as a light-hearted quip.
“Despite mean-spirited attempts to falsely frame a joke as policy, there is no uncertainty about what FEMA will be doing this hurricane season,” a Homeland Security spokesperson said.
While the Department of Homeland Security scrambled to downplay the incident as a "joke," insiders paint a different picture. Richardson, a Marine veteran with zero disaster response experience, was parachuted into the role last month after Trump unceremoniously fired his predecessor for daring to disagree with the president's vision of gutting FEMA.
Adding fuel to the fire, Richardson announced he wouldn't be issuing a new hurricane season plan, despite earlier promises. This leadership vacuum has left FEMA staff in disarray, with one source describing a state of utter confusion within the agency.
Trump's crusade against FEMA is already having real-world consequences. The agency recently denied North Carolina's plea for extended hurricane damage reimbursement after a storm claimed over 100 lives. In St. Louis, Mayor Cara Spencer is still waiting for FEMA assistance days after a devastating tornado caused $1 billion in damage.
As coastal communities brace for what could be a catastrophic hurricane season, the question on everyone's mind is: With a FEMA chief who doesn't even know hurricanes have a season, who will be there to pick up the pieces when disaster strikes?
Matthew Chapman
June 2, 2025
RAW STORY
'FEMA recovery center in Breezy Point, NY
[Leonard Zhukovsky / Shutterstock.com]
President Donald Trump's head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency stupefied staffers with an admission he wasn't even aware there was a hurricane season, Reuters reported on Monday.
"The remark was made by David Richardson, who has led FEMA since early May. It was not clear to staff whether he meant it literally, as a joke, or in some other context," said the report by Leah Douglas, Ted Hesson, and Nathan Layne. However, "a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA's parent agency, said the comment was a joke and that FEMA is prepared for hurricane season."
Hurricanes typically are clustered in the time span between June and November, fueled by the summer heat driving up the energy of the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Experts expect as many as 10 hurricanes could form this year — a deadly natural disaster that can kill and injure dozens every year, swamp coastal communities, and even cause intense flooding hundreds of miles inland, as happened in Western North Carolina last year.
Despite DHS assurances, "Richardson's comments come amid widespread concern that the departures of a raft of top FEMA officials, staff cuts and reductions in hurricane preparations will leave the agency ill-prepared for a storm season forecast to be above normal," noted the report.
Richardson did not have any natural disaster response experience prior to his appointment to the FEMA role. However, the report noted, he "has evoked his military experience as a former Marine artillery officer in conversations with staff."
Trump, since taking office, has made several moves alarming emergency preparedness experts. A few months ago, a judge in Rhode Island found credible evidence that the Trump administration was "covertly" denying disaster aid to states that hadn't voted for him in the 2024 election. Meanwhile, some North Carolina residents have reportedly been incensed at the president's lack of follow-through on his election campaign commitments to clean up hurricane-ravaged areas there.
President Donald Trump's head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency stupefied staffers with an admission he wasn't even aware there was a hurricane season, Reuters reported on Monday.
"The remark was made by David Richardson, who has led FEMA since early May. It was not clear to staff whether he meant it literally, as a joke, or in some other context," said the report by Leah Douglas, Ted Hesson, and Nathan Layne. However, "a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA's parent agency, said the comment was a joke and that FEMA is prepared for hurricane season."
Hurricanes typically are clustered in the time span between June and November, fueled by the summer heat driving up the energy of the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Experts expect as many as 10 hurricanes could form this year — a deadly natural disaster that can kill and injure dozens every year, swamp coastal communities, and even cause intense flooding hundreds of miles inland, as happened in Western North Carolina last year.
Despite DHS assurances, "Richardson's comments come amid widespread concern that the departures of a raft of top FEMA officials, staff cuts and reductions in hurricane preparations will leave the agency ill-prepared for a storm season forecast to be above normal," noted the report.
Richardson did not have any natural disaster response experience prior to his appointment to the FEMA role. However, the report noted, he "has evoked his military experience as a former Marine artillery officer in conversations with staff."
Trump, since taking office, has made several moves alarming emergency preparedness experts. A few months ago, a judge in Rhode Island found credible evidence that the Trump administration was "covertly" denying disaster aid to states that hadn't voted for him in the 2024 election. Meanwhile, some North Carolina residents have reportedly been incensed at the president's lack of follow-through on his election campaign commitments to clean up hurricane-ravaged areas there.
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