President Donald Trump should reverse course and not cut nearly $200 million in federal funding for mapping of flood-prone areas, Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said in an interview.
The cuts were included in Trump's proposed budget, which is expected to undergo significant changes before it passes in Congress.
Homeowners who have federal flood insurance would have to bear the cost if the cuts are approved.
In an interview with NJTV on Friday, Christie said he would "urge the president to not do the cuts." He also said he hoped Trump would privatize flood insurance, and called the federal flood insurance plan used in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy "awful."
"What I would urge the president to do to save real money is to get the federal government out of this business and let it go into the hands of the private sector," he said. "I think it would be a much better run program, people can count on getting their money in a way that's efficient and effective."
The comments represented a relatively rare disagreement between Christie and Trump, his longtime friend whom he endorsed early in the Republican presidential primary.
Christie made his final annual Memorial Day weekend visit to the New Jersey shore on Friday to kick off the summer season and tout the state's tourism rebound since Sandy. One of his stops was at a new rollercoaster in Seaside Heights that replaced the one knocked down by the storm.
