‘Disappointed’ Carlos skipping White House visit
When the Houston Astros visit the White House this year to be honored by President Trump on their 2017 World Series championship, retired star player Carlos Beltran will not be among the team’s contingent.
“No, I’m not gonna go. Honestly I’m not going. I’m going to stay with my family,” Beltran told reporters Tuesday in midtown Manhattan, where he was honored at the annual Thurman Munson Award dinner. “I’m going to be here in New York City.”
Beltran, the Puerto Rican-born player who won his only championship ring playing for Houston last year, said his decision to eschew the White House and Trump has nothing to do with the president, but earlier in the group interview, Beltran took a veiled shot at the leader of the free world when asked about the federal response to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico compared with the government’s relief efforts in Houston, which was also crippled by a different hurricane (Harvey) last year.
“There’s no doubt that I’m disappointed,” Beltran said of the federal response after Hurricanes Irma and Maria leveled the island last year. “I’m not the only one. There’s a lot of people disappointed. We haven’t (gotten) some benefits. Being part of the United States, you expect to at least get the same benefits when tragedies like this happen. The fact that we haven’t (gotten) those, yeah, it’s a disappointment.”
Shortly after Beltran’s native Puerto Rico was hit by the two natural disasters, Trump engaged in a verbal war with San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz via Trump’s Twitter account. Yulin Cruz said the federal government abandoned the island during its recovery. Following Trump’s recent State of the Union speech, Yulin Cruz again blasted Trump. The federal agency, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), announced that it would end its operations on the island after the end of January.
“Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help,” Trump tweeted in September.
Beltran said Tuesday that “40 percent” of Puerto Ricans are still without power since the hurricanes hit over four months ago.
“At the end of the day, as a Puerto Rican and an athlete, I’m doing the best I can in trying to provide some help,” said Beltran, who is using his foundation to help with relief efforts in Puerto Rico.
Beltran will not help celebrate the Astros’ championship at the Oval Office, however, even if Beltran said it has nothing to do with politics. The Houston Chronicle recently reported that Trump had extended an invite to the World Series champs and that the visit could come as soon as spring training.
“(Trump) is the President of the United States. If sometimes we don’t like the things that he does, or we like the things that he does, at the end of the day he’s the president, so (it) have nothing to do with that,” said Beltran. “Honestly, I’m not into politics. I’m more into the baseball side of it, sports side of it. That’s something that I don’t have a lot of opinion on that.
“I mean, I’m retired,” added Beltran. “I feel like I don’t belong to any team. I just feel like I belong to the only team – and that’s my family. That’s the team that I belong (to) right now. I wish those (Astros players) the best over there. I hope they have a great time, enjoy their day, with what it comes to visit the White House.”