RALEIGH – President Donald Trump’s joke that additional Hurricane Helene recovery money could depend on Republican Michael Whatley winning North Carolina’s U.S. Senate race is receiving renewed scrutiny as disaster relief enters the midterm campaign.
At a Sept. 16 rally in Gastonia, Trump said North Carolina was waiting for more recovery money and told the crowd he would get it to the state. He then said, “Now, if Michael loses, I’m not sending it,” before immediately adding, “No, I’m only kidding. You’re getting it.”
The full rally transcript shows Trump made the remark while discussing federal assistance after Helene. He said the federal government had spent more than $2 billion in Federal Emergency Management Agency funding and referred to nearly $3 billion for road and bridge repairs, as well as relief applications for almost 20,000 North Carolina small businesses.
The Associated Press returned to the North Carolina remark in an Oct. 7 examination of disaster relief in the midterm campaign. The report compared it with Trump’s announcements of aid in other states while endorsing Republican candidates. The White House told the AP there was no political influence on the president’s disaster-relief decisions, while disaster-recovery advocates warned that even the appearance of connecting assistance to votes could erode public trust.
Republican congressional candidate Jennifer Balkcom told the AP she believed Trump was trying to persuade voters to support Whatley. Jon Council of the organizing group Down Home North Carolina told the news service the remark suggested the administration was not taking conditions on the ground seriously.
WRAL separately reported that Democratic Gov. Josh Stein said North Carolina still needed more federal recovery funding and called any suggestion that aid could be linked to voting “absolutely offensive.” The outlet also noted that Trump promised the money would be delivered after the election.
Whatley is running against Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Thom Tillis. Trump’s immediate clarification is central to the episode: He called the statement a joke and said North Carolina would receive the funding. The reviewed sources did not report that a North Carolina recovery award was denied or changed because of the election.
Sources
- Roll Call Factbase transcript of Trump’s Gastonia rally, Sept. 16, 2026
- Associated Press report on disaster relief in the midterm campaign, Oct. 7, 2026
- WRAL report on Helene recovery and the North Carolina Senate race, Sept. 30, 2026
Photo Credit: NCDOTcommunications photograph via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0; cropped from the original. Source. Original.
Editor’s Note: This article was drafted with the assistance of artificial intelligence and was reviewed and fact-checked by a member of the NC Political News editorial team before publication.