Trump congratulates Puerto Rico on ‘miracle’ storm recovery
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Touring a small slice of Hurricane Maria’s devastation, U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated Puerto Rico on Tuesday for escaping the higher death toll of “a real catastrophe like Katrina” and heaped praise on the relief efforts of his administration without mentioning the sharp criticism the federal response has drawn.
“Really nothing short of a miracle,” he said of the recovery, an assessment at odds with the despair of many still struggling to find water and food outside the capital city in wide swaths of an island where only five per cent of electricity customers have power back. The death count of 16 is expected to rise.
In the heart of San Juan, in fact, a few miles from the air base where Trump gave his thumbs-up report on progress, people stacked sewagefouled clothes and mattresses outside houses and businesses lacking electricity nearly two weeks after the storm.
“Nobody’s come,” said Ray Negron, 38, while collecting debris.
Trump pledged an all-out effort to help the island while adding, somewhat lightly, “Now I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you’ve thrown our budget a little out of whack because we’ve spent a lot of money on Puerto Rico. And that’s fine. We’ve saved a lot of lives.”
Known deaths from Maria in the U.S. territory stand at 16. As for Katrina, as many as 1,800 people died in 2005 when levees protecting New Orleans broke, a toll in lives and property that took years to understand.
The visit offered fresh evidence of the unconventional path Trump has taken in responding to the one-two-three punch from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. His effusive praise for federal relief efforts has overshadowed his displays of empathy for those who are suffering.
Trump said his visit was “not about me” but then praised local officials for offering kind words about his administration’s recovery effort and invited one to repeat the “nice things” she’d said earlier. Trump also singled out Gov. Ricardo Rossello for “giving us the highest praise.”