President Donald Trump on Friday halted Democratic California Rep. Brad Sherman’s defense of using the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

The warning comes as the president threatens to withhold aid from California unless the state's leadership capitulates to his political demands

LOS ANGELES (AP) — President Donald Trump said he was considering “getting rid of” the Federal Emergency Management Agency during a trip to disaster zones Friday, offering the latest sign of how he is weighing sweeping changes to the nation’s central organization for responding to disasters.

Donald and Melania Trump are stopping in North Carolina, California and Nevada during the first second term trip. Follow along for live updates.

Donald Trump’s Justice Department cited an archaic statute in a legal filing Wednesday, arguing that the president’s executive order ending constitutionally guaranteed birthright citizenship should be totally kosher, since the children of Native Americans weren’t historically considered citizens, either.

The president has had harsh words for state and local leaders in California amid the deadly blazes. He recently suggested that federal aid could come with strings.

The Biden-era programs were a self-service scheduling app that Trump shut down on Monday, and an initiative that let in some migrants fleeing Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Haiti. They had allowed more than a million people to enter the country temporarily.

Instead of having federal financial assistance flow through FEMA, the Republican president said Washington could provide money directly to the states

Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt filed the lawsuit along with more than 20 other property owners and residents affected by the Palisades Fire.

The site's California Wildfires Hub compiles a large number of individual fundraisers, and a general Wildfire Relief Fund sends " emergency relief grants of $1,000 each to individuals who have lost homes, loved ones and property due to the Palisades, Eaton and Hurst fires."