Puerto Ricans want 'everything done for them': Trump
President Donald Trump has accused Puerto Ricans of wanting "everything to be done for them," as criticism grows over federal relief efforts amid devastating hurricane damage.
While much of the US territory of 3.4 million remain without power, fresh water or communications links long after the catastrophic passage of Hurricane Maria, reports continue to filter in of battered towns across the island that have yet to see any federal or local presence.
Enormous, hours-long queues grew at San Juan gas stations - some patrolled by private security guards - while desperate residents in the interior said reporters were the first outsiders they had seen.
Trump has, however, insisted in a series of Twitter messages that federal emergency response teams and the US military, which has sent dozens of ships and some 10,000 troops, were doing a "fantastic" job.
...want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017
Criticized for devoting more attention to protests by professional football players than to the disaster in the Caribbean, the White House announced Saturday that the president would make a series of phone calls later in the day to officials in Puerto Rico ahead of a visit there Tuesday.
...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. They....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017
Trump, in his tweets, sought to lay blame for the island's continuing woes on Democrats, the media and local officials.
After San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz complained in impassioned remarks that "We are dying here, and I cannot fathom the thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out logistics for a small island," Trump unleashed a tweet rant.
Fake News CNN and NBC are going out of their way to disparage our great First Responders as a way to "get Trump." Not fair to FR or effort!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017
Trump's latest remarks - issued from his luxury golf resort in New Jersey - could further inflame sentiment. His earlier comments questioning who would pay for reconstruction given the territory's financial debt were viewed by some as premature and distasteful, coming as islanders faced existential threats.
His earlier comments questioning who would pay for reconstruction given the territory's financial debt were viewed by some as premature and distasteful, coming as islanders faced existential threats.
The president's tweets drew a scorching response from the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, Representative Bennie Thompson, who called them "abhorrent," adding that it was "pathetic that the president has decided to attack - with the not so subtle veil of racism and sexism - those desperately begging for his help."
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Puerto Ricans have been angered by Trump's delay in finally waiving a US law that bars foreign-flagged ships from delivering aid to US ports. Though Trump had waived the law after hurricanes struck the mainland, he argued that "a lot of shippers" did not want the law waived again.
Puerto Ricans are US citizens, but due to the territory's status do not vote in presidential elections and have no real voice in Congress.