ON THE ROAD AGAIN — Donald Trump is in North Carolina today surveying the damage wrought by last year’s Hurricane Helene. And he’s using the first trip of his second term to float a massive overhaul — or outright elimination — of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. After landing in Asheville, Trump reiterated his frequent critique of the federal hurricane response: FEMA “has really let us down, let the country down,” he said, per NPR’s Asma Khalid and Deepa Shivaram. Trump indicated he’s examining “the whole concept” of the agency, and suggested that states should handle their own emergency response operations instead of the federal government. Trump’s words: “I like, frankly, the concept that when North Carolina gets hit, the governor takes care of it. When Florida gets hit, the governor takes care of it. Meaning the state takes care of it ... I’d like to see the states take care of disasters.” Ahead this afternoon: After departing North Carolina, Trump will head to California, where he’s due to tour the wildfire damage in and around Los Angeles. And Trump cleared up the rumbling that he’d extended something of an olive branch to his longtime nemesis Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) by inviting him to accompany him for the trip: “I didn’t invite him. Someone did,” Trump said, per CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. The formal snub: California Gov. Gavin Newsom was not included in the lineup to appear with Trump for the official briefing on the fires this afternoon, Megan Messerly reports. Instead, Trump will be joined by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and several California lawmakers. Still, the Democratic governor said yesterday he plans on showing up at the tarmac for Trump’s arrival. Related read: “Trump Says States Should Manage Disasters. Former FEMA Leaders Agree,” by NYT’s Christopher Flavelle THE WORLD AWAITS — As the inauguration hubbub fades in the U.S., several storylines are playing out across the globe as the rest of the world waits to see how Trump’s foreign policy agenda shapes up. What the Kremlin is watching: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his inner circle aren’t taking Trump’s recent sanction threats seriously, instead seeing it as posturing ahead of actual direct talks about the war in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov suggested that Putin is waiting for Trump to reach out directly, WSJ’s Matthew Luxmoore and Thomas Grove report. “Putin’s ready, we’re waiting for signals,” Peskov said on Friday about a possible call with Trump. “Everyone is ready.” What Pyongyang is watching: Though Trump indicated in his recent Fox News interview that he is open to rekindling his relationship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, the country's expanding missile capabilities and defense pact with Moscow could make it more difficult to broker talks than in the past, NYT’s Choe Sang-Hun reports. “Trump’s recent statement describing North Korea as a nuclear power clashed with a long-held agreement between Washington and Seoul that North Korea should never be accepted as such,” Sang-Hun writes. “Kim will likely wait until a Workers’ Party meeting in June or another parliamentary gathering in September to react to Mr. Trump’s overture.” What Beijing is watching: Though Trump has frequently framed China as America’s primary geopolitical enemy, his first few days in office have signaled he may be softening his views in favor of a “more restrained” approach, Axios’ Nathan Bomey and Zachary Basu report. “Some experts believe Elon Musk could be a moderating influence on Trump's approach to China,” they write. Though time will tell, since Trump’s policies on Taiwan “could be the ultimate indicator of where U.S.-China relations are heading.” What Guatemala City and Mexico City are watching: U.S. military aircraft began flying out migrants today after Trump tasked the military with helping address illegal immigration. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted on X about the flights to Guatemala, which officials said included two military aircrafts “each carrying about 80 migrants,” Reuters’ Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart report. Trump has already promised to send 1,500 additional troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, potentially including members of the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne division, per CNN’s Natasha Bertand. Happy Friday afternoon. Drop me a line if you’re braving the crowd today to see Bao Li and Qing Bao at the National Zoo: birvine@poltico.com.
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