The Trentonian (Trenton, NJ)

L.A. Parker: Trump’s Puerto Rico response shows disconnect and narcissism

- L.A. Parker Columnist L.A. Parker is a Trentonian columnist. Reach him at laparker@trentonian.com. Follow him on Twitter@laparker6.

Hermann Rorschach created a psychologi­cal test in which a person’s perception of ink blots were recorded then analyzed.

The Swiss psychologi­st’s famous Rorschach examinatio­n allowed insights regarding personalit­y characteri­stics and emotional framework.

If Puerto Rico represente­d an ink blot then remarks made by President Donald Trump about disaster relief following destructio­n left by Hurricane Maria qualify the president as certifiabl­e. “We’ve gotten A-pluses on Texas and in Florida, and we will also on Puerto Rico,” Trump told reporters in Washington. “The difference is this is an island sitting in the middle of an ocean. It’s a big ocean, it’s a very big ocean. And we’re doing a really good job.”

Trump seems disconnect­ed from the fact that Hurricane Maria completely destroyed Puerto Rico’s infrastruc­ture leaving three million people without electricit­y.

Thousands of houses were destroyed while people in shelters, some left over from previous storm Hurricane Irma, have no homes to return to.

Minimal safe water sources remain as stores that did open have lines that create waits up to more than three hours. Meanwhile, millions of tons of supplies loaded into containers sit in Puerto Rico’s ports.

Trump appears disengaged and once again out of touch with absurd comments about Puerto Rico being “an island in the middle of an ocean.”

Next week, Mr. Trump will give definition­s for peninsulas, straits and isthmuses.

Perhaps if Trump stopped playing golf for one day, paused his Twitter feeds about NFL protests or Sen. John McCain’s betrayal, you know, got off his fat derrière and moved his swelled head to Puerto Rico, he could offer a valid assessment.

Instead, Trump postponed a visit to Puerto Rico, opting for another stay at his Bedminster, N.J. Trump National golf course sanctuary.

Trump likely will visit Jersey City Sunday where the Presidents Cup competitio­n plays out between U.S. golfers and an Internatio­nal team.

Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton appeared together which means Trump and his ego entourage must show. It is the Presidents Cup.

Meanwhile, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz bemoaned Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke’s perception that Puerto Rico “is really a good news story in terms of our ability to reach people and the limited number of deaths that have taken place in such a devastatin­g hurricane.” Yulín Cruz responded vehemently. “Dammit, this is not a good news story,” Cruz said in an interview with CNN. “This is a people are dying story.”

San Juan’s mayor expressed frustratio­n eight days after Hurricane Maria devastated the Caribbean island.

“Well, maybe from where (Duke’s) standing, it’s a good-news story. When you’re drinking from a creek, it’s not a good-news story. When you don’t have food for a baby, it’s not a good-news story,” Yulín Cruz said.

Of course, Trump, who never heard a criticism that he could not respond to, especially from a Latino female, fired back with a conspiracy theory.

The president woke Saturday morning then delivered a series of tweets..

Trump noted that Yulin Cruz, “who was very compliment­ary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump.”

“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 wrote. “They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort.”

Rorschach would have concluded that Trump suffers from serious narcissist­ic personalit­y disorder and lack of intelligen­ce.

 ?? CAROLYN KASTER — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? President Donald Trump is lashing out at the mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital city in a war of words over recovery efforts after Hurricane Maria smashed into the U.S. territory.
CAROLYN KASTER — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS President Donald Trump is lashing out at the mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital city in a war of words over recovery efforts after Hurricane Maria smashed into the U.S. territory.
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