Disaster aid plea presents a test of Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s ties to Trump

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R), who rose to prominence as White House press secretary in President Donald Trump’s first term, has not been shy about advertising her access to her former boss and how that helps her state.

Her relationship with Trump is now being tested after devastating storms swept through Arkansas in March, damaging hundreds of homes. The state badly needs aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to recover, Sanders has said.

FEMA denied a request for emergency aid after the March tornadoes, which Sanders appealed last week. On Monday, Arkansas’s congressional delegation joined her in lobbying the White House for assistance, a rare instance of pushback against the president from Republican officials who are typically staunch supporters.

Trump, who is authorized to make final decisions on FEMA disaster declarations that authorize the disbursement of federal aid, has spoken about dismantling the agency that’s housed in the Department of Homeland Security and previously threatened to withhold disaster aid from California because of political disputes with the Democrat-led state. But Arkansas, a red state headed by a vocal Trump ally, has no such quarrels with the president.

In March, shortly after tornadoes hit Arkansas, Sanders wrote on X that Trump had personally promised his support to her in a phone call between the two.

“He said to tell the people of Arkansas he loves them and he and his administration are here to help with whatever we need following last night’s tornadoes,” Sanders wrote. “Thank you, Mr. President!”

Sam Dubke, a spokesperson for Sanders’s office, said in a statement that the governor “has been in close contact with the Trump Administration and [DHS] Secretary [Kristi L.] Noem as the State provides additional information to appeal its Major Disaster Declaration request and help Arkansans recover from these storms.”

The White House said it prioritizes “lifesaving disaster support” but indicated there are limits to the aid it will provide to states.

“The Trump administration will work with state and local governments to invest in disaster resilience, but the federal government acting as an unlimited backstop cannot and should not replace common sense policymaking and investments by state and local governments that prioritize preparedness and resilience to prevent tragedy before disaster strikes,” National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said in a statement.

FEMA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Arkansas was among the states affected by a massive storm system that spawned at least 81 tornadoes across eight states in March.

At least 11 tornadoes touched down in Arkansas, according to Sanders’s office. Three people were killed and 32 injured in the storms, and 456 structures were damaged. More than 200 families needed housing assistance in the aftermath.

The storm was part of what Sanders’s office says is an unprecedented stretch of weather disasters that have battered Arkansas in recent years. Since 2023, federal agencies have declared four major disasters in Arkansas, and the state has declared 10. After the March tornadoes, another round of storms hit in early April, causing even more damage.

“The cumulative effect of repeated disasters has led to widespread disaster fatigue among residents and responders alike,” Sanders’s appeal to FEMA states. “Many Arkansans are still living in temporary conditions or repairing damages from previous events, only to be displaced or impacted once again.”

Sanders asked FEMA to declare a major disaster and provide small business loans and individual assistance a week after the March tornadoes. The Trump administration declined and said the state could handle the costs, the Arkansas Times reported.

The denial seemed “reasonable,” said Michael Coen, who served as a chief of staff at FEMA under the Biden and Obama administrations. He noted that Arkansas’s report said two-thirds of homes damaged in the tornadoes were insured, and FEMA only provides individual assistance for uninsured or underinsured losses.

But he added it was not uncommon for states to appeal FEMA decisions and provide additional information to remedy a request. Arkansas is not the only state wrangling with FEMA for disaster assistance. The Democratic governors of Washington and North Carolina announced appeals this month after FEMA denied requests for aid — in Washington to assist with damage from storms that hit the state in November and in North Carolina to extend a 100% reimbursement period for losses from Hurricane Helene.

Sanders has maintained close ties to Trump since leaving the White House. He endorsed her 2022 bid for governor, calling Sanders a “warrior who will always fight for the people of Arkansas.” She praised Trump on the campaign trail last year and often defends his policies in the media. Trump made Sanders’s father Mike Huckabee, who also served as Arkansas governor, the ambassador to Israel.

Since returning to office, Trump has said he would like to eliminate the agency tasked with disaster response — and Noem pledged at a Cabinet meeting last month that she’d do that without elaborating further. The Washington Post reported in late March that officials are working to strip FEMA of key functions and diminish its role in disaster recovery.

Coen, the former FEMA official, said Trump’s comments were concerning but that it was too early to tell whether FEMA funding is being curtailed or conditioned. In the early stages of Trump’s presidency, states are also probably watching to see how his administration handles requests for aid, he said.

“It’s not unusual [during] the first three to four months of an administration like this for the state emergency managers to be kind of watching to see the tea leaves of, ‘What’s in the realm of the possibility for what we can expect for the next four years?’” Coen said.