Gov. DeSantis says Florida could adjust if Donald Trump doesn’t offer post-FEMA block grants

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Gov. Ron DeSantis still thinks the feds should fund Florida’s storm recovery, and says he doesn’t expect the Donald Trump administration to stop socializing costs even if the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is phased out.

But if the feds get out of the business of disaster management entirely, DeSantis said Florida could handle it and would be willing to do so for the greater good of the nation.

“Some have said, ‘Well, what if they don’t block grant any money? What if they just get out of disaster management and just say the states must fend for themselves?’ Well, listen, if that happens, we’ve got a big surplus. We would have to make adjustments to how we approach things. But I can do that,” DeSantis said in Kissimmee.

“Just let me know what’s in the best interest of the United States. And if it is, then Florida will respond very, very appropriately. But that would obviously require us to change a little bit about what we’re doing. But I don’t anticipate that being the case.”

However, the Governor believes Trump will come through with “block grants … maybe in time for next” hurricane season. He said those appropriations would give Florida the resources it needs to respond to storms without the “impediment” of FEMA bureaucracy.

“We’re nimble, we’re quick, we adjust, so empower the states. Give us the resources, and we don’t need, necessarily, the federal government to be involved at all,” DeSantis said.

Though he allowed that Florida might need the Coast Guard to “supplement” the state’s efforts, DeSantis is confident in what is “by and large a local and state driven process.”

“We have the Florida State Guard, the Florida National Guard, Florida Highway Patrol, our Sheriff’s departments, our Police departments, Fish and Wildlife, Florida Department of Law Enforcement. All these people, you know, do a great job,” DeSantis explained.

“Even the urban search and rescue teams, those are ostensibly under the banner of DHS (U.S. Department of Homeland Security). But they’re basically local Fire Departments that then get federalized. So those are our people anyways.”