The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
‘We’ll be there’ for Puerto Rico, president promises
Reassurance comes day after messages blame leadership.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump sought to reassure Puerto Rico on Friday that he was not abandoning the hurricane-ravaged island, shifting his message a day after blaming its leadership for the territory’s ongoing crisis and warning that he “cannot keep” federal troops and emergency workers “in P.R. forever.”
In a morning post on Twitter, Trump stuck to his position that Puerto Rico was already deeply troubled before Hurricanes Irma and Maria hit, but he cast the point in a tone of greater solidarity.
“The wonderful people of Puerto Rico, with their unmatched spirit, know how bad things were before the H’s,” he wrote. “I will always be with them!”
He repeated that sentiment in a speech later in the morning. “These are people that are incredible people,” he said, referring to residents of Puerto Rico as well as other places hit by recent storms. “They’ve suffered greatly and we’ll be there. We’re going to be there. We have, really — it’s not even a question of a choice. We don’t even want a choice. We’re going to be there as Americans and we love those people and what they’ve gone through.”
Trump used his speech to a gathering called the Values Voter Summit to reinforce his alliance with religious conservatives who have backed his candidacy and presidency.
Noting that he was the first sitting president to address the conference, Trump embraced a more
prominent role for religion in politics and public life and vowed to stop “the attacks on Judeo-Christian values.”
Reprising a popular applause line he has used with similar audiences in the past, Trump asserted that he had changed what he called the politically correct practice of saying “happy holidays” instead of “merry Christmas” during the holiday season at the end of the year.
“Well, guess what?” he said. “We’re saying merry Christmas again.”
Trump has sent conflicting messages about Puerto Rico for weeks, at times offering expressions of resolve to help those devastated by the storms and at others seeming to blame the island for its own troubles and lashing out at people who have complained about an inadequate federal response.
The contrast with his more consistent approach toward Florida and Texas when they were struck by hurricanes has fueled suspicions about why he has treated the predominantly Hispanic island differently.
The president’s tweets Thursday about Puerto Rico generated anxiety. In those messages, Trump noted that the island had already been
caught up in a financial crisis “largely of their own making” with “a total lack of accountability” and an infrastructure that “was disaster before hurricanes.”
He added that, “We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!”
The island’s governor quickly telephoned the White House chief of staff seeking clarification and was reassured that the federal government remained committed to Puerto Rico.
Trump’s advisers spent the rest of the day sending that message, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency posted its own Twitter message promising Puerto Rico it would be there “every day” to help get through the crisis.
Three weeks after Hurricane Maria hit, 83 percent of the island was still without power, 36 percent had no running water and 45 percent was without telecommunication services. Hospitals were operating on generators, and while most supermarkets were open again, the government was struggling to ensure that they were stocked.