Trump rates his disaster response: It was ‘a 10’

WASHINGTON » President Donald Trump gave himself a “10” on Thursday for his response to the widespread devastation Puerto Rico suffered after back-toback hurricanes created a situation that the island’s governor described as “catastrophic” as he met with Trump at the White House.

More than 80 percent of households in Puerto Rico remain without electricity about a month after Hurricane Maria, the second storm, dealt the island a severe blow. Asked when the 3.4 million U.S. citizens living there could expect power to be fully restored, Trump replied: “It’s a very, very good question, actually.”

Trump said it will take “a while” to build a new power plant or substantially renovate what was damaged by the storms. He said most of the power that exists is being supplied by the “massive numbers” of generators he sent to the island.

“There’s never been a case where power plants were gone,” Trump said, seated alongside Gov. Ricardo Rossello in the Oval Office. “So it’s going to be a period of time before the electric is restored.”

Trump was asked by a reporter to rate, on a scale of 1 to 10, the White House response to Puerto Rico.

“I’d say it was a 10,” said Trump. “I’d say it was probably the most difficult — when you talk about relief, when you talk about search, when you talk about all the different levels, and even when you talk about lives saved, you look at the number — I mean, this was — I think it was worse than Katrina, it was, in many ways, worse than anything people have ever seen.”

Trump said personnel were available nearby before the storm, ready to go afterward, and that a “fantastic job” was done under the circumstances.

Seated beside Trump, Rossello tried to strike an upbeat note despite saying “it’s a catastrophic situation” in Puerto Rico. But he said, “We are going to beat this. We know we’re going to build better than before.”

Rossello has been supportive of Trump, saying again that every request he’s made of the president has been answered. Meeting with key lawmakers on Capitol Hill, he said Trump “has been clear that no U.S. citizen will be left behind.”