Guest Post: Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle explains how Michael Whatley “unleashed the U.S. Army” to help western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in the Washington Reporter. A D.C.-based outlet known for its deep sourcing in the White House and on Capitol Hill. Read more about it here.

While Michael Whatley has never been in federal office before, he is leaning heavily on his efforts to help western North Carolina recover from Hurricane Helene. The Washington Reporter previously spoke with individuals who were on the ground and who saw firsthand how Whatley helped secure billions of dollars for the devastated region.

Now, the Acting Secretary of the Army is joining the chorus of people who saw Whatley in action firsthand. Telle told the Reporter that “Michael’s decisive leadership on behalf of the president resulted in relief that just months earlier was unimaginable.”

“The people of Western North Carolina and surrounding areas devastated by Hurricane Helene urgently needed leadership from the federal government,” Telle added. “Michael, as President [Donald] Trump’s designated lead for Hurricane Helene recovery, unleashed the U.S. Army which delivered unimaginable results for the American people. The Army was on site with Michael almost immediately and repeatedly thereafter.”

When Helene struck western North Carolina, Gov. Roy Cooper (D., N.C.), Whatley’s opponent in the Senate race, was in the final months of his tenure as North Carolina’s governor. When the storm itself struck, he was out of town, at a gala in New York City. 

Western North Carolina residents told the Reporter that when they tried to engage with Cooper, his team implied to them that he was a lame duck, and that there was little he could do for the state. 

In the final weeks of the Senate race, Whatley and his allies are renewing scrutiny on Cooper’s record during his final weeks in office. “I think it is laughable if Roy Cooper even tries to make hurricane recovery an issue in this campaign after how badly he fumbled not only Helene, but eastern North Carolina,” State Representative Jake Johnson told the Reporter in an interview. “He is trying to run from anything that reminds anyone of how bad he has handled natural disasters in this state.”

“I chair our House Oversight Committee,” Johnson continued, “so part of my job was bringing in his department that was overseeing the rebuild effort in Eastern North Carolina, which I’m not from…I didn’t know how bad it was until we started going through the numbers. They lost hundreds of millions of dollars, and people were still living in hotels six and eight years later after these events. I’m talking about families that were supposed to be in a rebuilt house, but the money was mismanaged so badly that they were going in and not only couldn’t tell us where the money was, but couldn’t even give us a real timeline on when this would be resolved.”

Trump, for his part, has praised Whatley for making sure that the president prioritized western North Carolina during his return to office; Trump visited the area as his first trip as president.

Whatley was the “number one advocate” for Helene recovery, Trump said. “The Democrats didn’t do a damned thing.”