President Donald Trump is facing waves of criticism on social media after he made a strange attempt to rebrand a hurricane during a speech in North Carolina on Tuesday.

“When you had the hurricane,” Trump said, referring to Hurricane Helene in 2024. “We call it a water cane. It was the most; there’s never been a hurricane that anybody’s seen that threw out more water than that.”

Trump attacked then-Gov. Roy Cooper (D) for doing a “horrible job” after the storm, claiming the state was “dying” as a result. Cooper is now the Democratic candidate for Senate, and Trump was in town to campaign for GOP candidates including Cooper’s rival, Michael Whatley, the former chair of the Republican National Committee.

Trump has a long and strange history with hurricanes. In 2017, he visited Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria and threw rolls of paper towels at survivors who needed aid. In 2018, he declared Hurricane Florence to be “one of the wettest we’ve ever seen from the standpoint of water.” One year later, Trump used a marker to doctor a forecast for Hurricane Dorian.

In 2025, Trump said he would start “phasing out” FEMA, which is the main agency that responds to disasters such as hurricanes.

“Very, very expensive and it doesn’t get the job done,” he said, complaining about the cost of the response to Helene.

Trump also said that state and local governments should “play a more active and significant role” in preparing for disasters rather than relying on federal dollars.

Critics on X tore into Trump for his latest hot take on these storms, specifically his claim that Helene was a “water cane,” which is not a thing:

We are not a serious nation. This is the President of the United States, not your drunk uncle at Thanksgiving. https://t.co/7OwUsuTmxF

Your tax dollars flew his plane there so he could say this… https://t.co/BykSp0GfH5

Dude, many die because of hurricanes, and now you are turning it over to states. Quit the joking and get real.

Who da fuck says watercane?  Who's we?  Can anyone put him away? https://t.co/becjh5c2Ol

The wettest watercane anyone’s ever seen. https://t.co/QDATcWsFLn

https://t.co/xkqgv89zKL pic.twitter.com/W54BgymESg

Those people behind him are looking around like they don't know what to do...

Cancel the Blue Wave.  We want a blue WATERCANE please.

I didn't think he could get any dumber... but here we are. pic.twitter.com/axsXfL9keB

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