Trump ties disaster aid to midterm campaign as Hurricane Isaias nears Florida Panhandle

As Hurricane Isaias bears down on the Florida Panhandle, President Donald Trump is increasingly weaving federal disaster aid into his midterm campaign, pairing relief announcements with endorsements of Republican candidates and joking at a rally about withholding hurricane money if his candidate lost, The Associated Press reported. Critics, including a former FEMA spokesperson and disaster survivor advocates, say the practice undermines trust in a system Florida leans on after nearly every major storm. The White House says there is no politicization in the president's disaster decisions.

For Florida, the question is not abstract. Isaias is forecast to make landfall on the northern Gulf Coast late Friday or early Saturday, and FEMA's public declarations data, last updated Wednesday afternoon, showed no federal emergency declaration for Florida tied to the storm. Gov. Ron DeSantis' office had announced a state emergency for 25 counties but, as of its published press releases, had not announced a request for a pre-landfall federal declaration.

What Trump has said and done

The AP story, published Oct. 7, laid out a series of examples from the final weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections:

• Wisconsin: On Wednesday, Trump posted on Truth Social that he had spoken with Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican nominee for governor whom he has endorsed, and told him about $17.9 million in disaster funds headed to the state for summer storms. "18 Million Dollars should help, A LOT," Trump wrote. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' office said it had not been informed about the money, and Evers accused Trump and Tiffany of playing politics with emergency aid.
• North Carolina: At a rally for Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley, Trump acknowledged the state is still waiting for billions in Hurricane Helene recovery money and said he would not send it if Whatley lost, then said he was joking and that the state would get it.
• Ohio: The day before a rally in Vandalia with Sen. Jon Husted, who faces Democrat Sherrod Brown, Trump approved a disaster declaration for August storms. It provides direct assistance to residents of seven of the 23 counties Republican Gov. Mike DeWine requested.
• Iowa and Kentucky: Trump's Truth Social posts have at times announced funding alongside reminders to vote for endorsed Republicans such as Ashley Hinson in Iowa and Andy Barr in Kentucky.

FEMA confirmed that Trump also approved disaster declarations for Wisconsin, West Virginia and Guam that he did not announce on social media. Fifteen other requests from states, tribes and territories remained pending, including two from Hawaii, which was hit by back-to-back hurricanes in August and September, the AP reported.

The criticism and the White House response

"Recovery isn't partisan," said Sierra Lindsey-Kos, co-founder and co-executive director of the advocacy nonprofit Extreme Weather Survivors. Rafael LeMaitre, a FEMA spokesperson under former President Barack Obama, told the AP that even the perception of linking disaster relief to votes has traditionally been out of bounds and erodes trust in how government handles disasters. Andrew Rumbach, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute who tracks presidential disaster declarations, called the White House's behavior "unusual and frankly concerning."

White House spokesperson Lauren Bis rejected the criticism. "There is no politicization to the president's decisions on disaster relief," Bis said. A FEMA spokesperson said suggestions that disaster decisions are politically motivated misrepresent how the process works.

An AP analysis in July found that Trump approved more than three-quarters of disaster requests from states that voted for him in 2024 but fewer than half of requests from states that did not. Florida, which Trump carried in 2024 and where he lives, would fall in the first group. The AP also noted that a FEMA news release in September about preparing for a nor'easter named 18 Republican members of Congress the agency was working with and no Democrats.

Where Florida stands as Isaias approaches

DeSantis signed Executive Order 26-202 on Oct. 6, declaring a state of emergency for 25 Panhandle and Big Bend counties, which allows the state to stage generators, fuel, water, meals, tarps and flood barriers. As of the National Hurricane Center's 7 a.m. CDT advisory Thursday, Isaias had 80 mph winds, with a hurricane warning from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to the Bay/Gulf County line and a storm surge warning extending east to the Steinhatchee River. Forecasters warned of up to 5 to 7 feet of surge from Ocean Springs to Indian Pass.

Okaloosa County ordered coastal residents of evacuation zones A and B to leave as of noon Thursday, including Okaloosa Island and parts of coastal Fort Walton Beach, Destin, Mary Esther and Niceville. Walton County issued a voluntary evacuation. In Alabama, Gov. Kay Ivey declared a state of emergency for 40 counties.

A presidential emergency declaration before landfall is not automatic. A governor must request one, and it typically unlocks federal reimbursement for emergency protective measures such as evacuations and sheltering, along with direct federal help. Florida received such pre-landfall declarations for recent storms, as FEMA records show.

Those 2024 declarations came under President Joe Biden. Isaias is the first hurricane forecast to strike Florida in Trump's second term, making it the first test of how his administration handles a Florida hurricane request. FEMA's records show the only federal declarations for Florida so far in 2026 are fire management assistance grants for the Railroad Complex and Cow Creek wildfires in April.

Helene and Milton money still flowing

Florida is still collecting federal reimbursements for Helene and Milton recovery projects from the 2024 storms. That money, which local governments rely on for debris removal and rebuilding, depends on the same federal machinery now facing an overhaul.

FEMA's leadership and pending changes

FEMA has a permanent leader for the first time in Trump's second term. The Senate confirmed Cameron Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL who briefly led FEMA on an acting basis in 2025 before being fired after testifying against proposals to dismantle the agency, by a 51-47 vote on Aug. 7. At his June confirmation hearing he pledged that FEMA's review of disaster requests would be "objective, is fair and reasonable, follows the law, and is consistent."

The FEMA Review Council, chaired by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, approved a final report on May 7 calling for a major shift of disaster responsibility to states and localities. Among its recommendations is a parametric block grant, called RAPID, that would replace Public Assistance reimbursement with money sent to states within 30 days of a presidential declaration based on predefined criteria such as wind speed or flood depth. Most of those changes require an act of Congress. A House FEMA reform bill, the FEMA Act (H.R. 4669), has cleared committee but has not been enacted.

Florida's most outspoken voice on FEMA in Congress has been Rep. Jared Moskowitz, a Democrat and former director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Moskowitz has warned about a backlog of unanswered disaster requests, introduced legislation to let states run housing and public assistance programs as block grants, and in April joined Rep. Troy Carter of Louisiana in introducing a bill to fund the Disaster Relief Fund at about $26.4 billion.

What's next

The key near-term question for Florida is whether DeSantis requests, and Trump approves, a federal emergency declaration for Isaias before or soon after landfall, and if the storm causes major damage, how quickly a major disaster declaration follows. FEMA posts approved declarations at fema.gov, and the governor's office announces requests at flgov.com. Nationally, the 15 pending disaster requests and Trump's campaign appearances before the Nov. 3 midterms will keep the issue in view, while Congress has yet to act on the FEMA overhaul.