The White House swiftly rebutted the claims and accused Republicans of spreading “bold-faced lies” about funding for the disaster response.

[…]

Trump and his allies expressed outrage that the agency had spent over $640m (£487m) on housing migrants.

But officials pointed out that this funding, authorised by Congress, was part of an entirely different programme run by Fema unconnected to disaster relief.

[…]

Republicans have attempted to link the disaster relief effort to immigration - an issue seen as a strength for Trump - but have spread misinformation about how government money is used.

At an event in Evans, Georgia, on Friday, Trump said, without evidence, that: "A lot of the money that was supposed to go to Georgia and supposed to go to North Carolina and all of the others is going and has gone already.

“It’s been gone for people that came into the country illegally, and nobody has ever seen anything like that. That’s a shame.”

Fema did receive a budget from Congress - $640m in the last fiscal year - to provide housing to immigrants applying for US citizenship.