WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order designed to boost the nation’s ability to prepare for and respond to threats like cyber attacks and natural disasters by streamlining the federal government’s role and giving states and local jurisdictions more control.

What You Need To Know

  • President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order designed to boost the nation’s ability to prepare for and respond to threats like cyber attacks and natural disasters by streamlining the federal government’s role and giving states and local jurisdictions more control
  • The order, according to a fact sheet released on Tuesday, creates a “National Resilience Strategy,” ultimately aiming to reduce complexities and simplify federal policies on preparedness and response
  • The order also creates a National Risk Register, which will assess risks to our infrastructure and systems in a bid to plan and spend money “smarter"
  • Trump has frequently called for trimming the federal government’s role and instead giving states more authority on topics ranging from education to disaster response

The White House framed the move as part of Trump’s effort to “shift power” from the federal government to individual states. 

The order, according to a fact sheet released on Tuesday, creates a “National Resilience Strategy,” ultimately aiming to simplify federal policies on preparedness and response. 

As part of the shift to the scaled-down federal approach, all infrastructure and policies related to responding to threats will undergo a review to ensure they are aligned with the new national strategy. The strategy includes shifting to a more tailored “risk-formed” approach to critical infrastructure, streamlining operations and reformulating processes and metrics.  

The order also creates a National Risk Register, which will assess risks to our infrastructure and systems in a bid to plan and spend money “smarter.”

Trump has frequently called for trimming the federal government’s role and instead giving states more authority on topics ranging from education to disaster response. On his first trip outside of Washington since returning to the White House, the president in January floated the idea of getting rid of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is tasked with leading the federal response on the ground to natural disasters across the country, and instead allowing states to handle response efforts. 

“I think we’re going to recommend that FEMA go away and we pay directly, we pay a percentage, to the state, and the state should fix it,” he said at the time.

He signed an executive order in January creating a council to evaluate FEMA’s response to disasters around the country and recommend potential reforms. However, Spectrum News reported last week that it is not clear whether that group has met. 

The Trump administration has also set out on a broader effort being carried out by billionaire Elon Musk and his U.S. Doge Service to cut the size of the federal government.

Spectrum News’ Reuben Jones contributed to this report.