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| - A rumor circulating online in January 2025 claimed U.S. President Donald Trump directed Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) officials to hurricane-ravaged North Carolina with $2 billion he supposedly moved from a fund meant to provide "welfare for 'illegals.'"
For example, we located numerous examples of users posting this rumor on Facebook, Threads, TikTok, Truth Social, X and even a college sports forum. One X user posted (archived) on Jan. 22, "BREAKING: FEMA said they were out of money and couldn't help North Carolina. Today Trump moved $2 billion from money used to support illegals to the people of North Carolina." The post received more than 1.6 million views and 115,000 likes.
In another example, a Truth Social user replied to a Trump post with a meme reading, "FEMA has been directed back to North Carolina with $2 billion in emergency funds: 'We transferred it from the programs that fund welfare for illegals. They won't be needing it.' Thank You President Trump." The post received over 11,000 likes — a high number of engagements for Trump's social media platform, compared to larger social apps.
These readers seemed to interpret the rumor as a factual recounting of real-life events. However, there was no evidence of the Trump administration directing FEMA officials "back" to North Carolina with $2 billion in disaster assistance taken from a fund for migrants.
Rather, the rumor originated with several different posts hosted by America's Last Line of Defense (ALLOD) — a network of Facebook pages and websites whose author describes their output as satirical in nature. The network's primary Facebook page displays "satire" labels on posted images and features a bio with the disclaimer reading, "The flagship of the ALLOD network of trollery and propaganda for cash. Nothing on this page is real." Among the Facebook pages in this network is America - Love It Or Leave It.
The Devastation of Hurricane Helene
The fictional story about Trump diverting $2 billion from "welfare for 'illegals'" spread in the days after Trump took office for his second term on Jan. 20. The rumor's mention of North Carolina referenced the devastation left behind by Hurricane Helene in late September 2024.
In December 2024, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services published a list of 104 known state fatalities resulting from the storm. An assessment published the same month by the state's Office of State Budget and Management and Gov. Roy Cooper estimated "damage and needs of $59.6 billion." The report noted the massive scale of the thousands of destroyed homes, tens of thousands of damages houses and thousands of damaged businesses, as well as infrastructure needs for restoring services including water, sewer, electricity, telecommunications, healthcare facilities, roads and bridges.
A Jan. 20 news release indicated FEMA officials had continued assisting Helene victims both before and after Trump's inauguration, following the end of former President Joe Biden's term in office.
In a Jan. 22 interview with Fox News TV host Sean Hannity, Trump said of the government agency, in part, "FEMA has not done their job for the last four years." He continued making negatively-critical remarks about FEMA, saying he intended to visit North Carolina on Jan. 24, as well as fly to California on the same day to view damage from the recent Los Angeles County wildfires.
Snopes has reported on similar claims about FEMA and migrants in the past, including the assertion that the government agency was running out of hurricane relief money due to migrant aid.
For background, here is why we alert readers to rumors created by sources calling their output humorous or satirical.
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