Trump Packs Daytona Beach Rally, Approves $184M FEMA Aid
President Donald Trump electrified a capacity crowd at Daytona Beach’s Ocean Center on Friday night, delivering a more than 90-minute speech for Florida Republicans — and revealing he had just approved $184 million in federal hurricane relief for the state’s Panhandle.
The Ocean Center, which seats 9,300, was packed with not a seat empty. Supporters dressed in red, white and blue began lining up Friday morning, hours before doors opened at 3:30 p.m. Trump arrived shortly after 8 p.m. to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” and left the stage dancing.
The rally, held four days before the November 3 midterms, backed gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds and Sen. Ashley Moody in their races against Democrats David Jolly and Angie Nixon.
$184 Million in Hurricane Relief Signed in Two Hours
Trump told the crowd the FEMA funding came at the direct request of Donalds and Moody, who phoned him on Thursday about storm-ravaged Northwest Florida.
“They call up. They’re always looking for money,” Trump joked. “So they call me twice. I said, ‘Listen, just tell them I’m not in.'”
But Donalds told the crowd the money was already moving. “We need the sign-off for individual assistance from FEMA for the people in the Panhandle,” Donalds said he told the president Thursday. “And it was signed off two hours later for the people in the Panhandle.”
The money helps residents affected by Hurricane Isaias, which struck Northwest Florida from October 6 to 12 as a Category 2 storm, killing at least four people and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands. The funding covers grants for temporary housing and home repairs plus low-interest loans for uninsured property losses.
Gov. Ron DeSantis had requested a major disaster declaration on October 15. FEMA records show the public assistance portion was approved October 27, and Trump amended the declaration two days later to add individual assistance for eight counties.
De Niro, Hollywood Tax Credits and the 90-Minute Show
Trump used the long speech to hit a wide range of targets, including actor Robert De Niro, whom he called a “moron,” reviving their long-running feud while discussing possible federal tax credits for Hollywood.
He claimed film executives who once criticized him are now “kissing my ass” seeking the credits, and boasted that his old reality show “The Apprentice” once beat the Academy Awards in ratings.
Speakers before Trump included Moody, Rep. Randy Fine, Donalds, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and former Gov. Rick Scott. It was Trump’s second consecutive Friday rally in Florida and his fourth visit to Daytona Beach since 2016 — he previously filled the same arena with about 8,000 supporters in August 2016, weeks before his first presidential victory.
Final Sprint: Kansas and Iowa Back On
The Daytona rally also marked a turnaround in Trump’s final-stretch schedule. Less than a day after his Kansas and Iowa rallies were swapped for telephone events, both in-person rallies were reinstated for Sunday — keeping the president on the trail after a grueling October that saw him hold 25 rallies across 19 states.
Trump closed his remarks urging the packed house to vote on Tuesday. “These are the most important midterm elections ever,” he said, warning of Democratic opposition if Republicans lose the House while promising a $5,000 tariff-funded dividend to every adult citizen if they hold Congress.
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