It's been five days since President Donald Trump last tweeted about Hurricane Maria hitting Puerto Rico. And his new tone-deaf comments Monday aren't going over well.
One would think if it takes that long to further comment after a deadly Category 4 storm wracked a U.S. territory of 3.4 million people with hurricane-force winds and 40 inches of rain, the tweets would be a thoughtful response to an island in ruin. Wait, we're talking about Trump. Never mind.
Trump seemed to blame Puerto Rico for the devastation in a series of three tweets sent out Monday night. He negs all over Puerto Rico, from its infrastructure to financial issues, as he describes the disaster.
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A majority of Puerto Rico's crops have been devastated, causing concerns of food shortages, and power still remains out in parts of the territory. It could remain that way for six months or longer.
Puerto Rican citizens have said they feel forgotten after Maria, giving Trump's tweets an extra layer of scum. Everyone from climate scientists to activists were taken aback by his tweetstorm.
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Federal aid is flowing to Texas and Florida after Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, but recovery work will require long-term efforts. In contrast, the White House has yet to send a disaster aid request to Congress for Puerto Rico, which gets the process for aid money started. (It sent the request for Texas six days after Harvey; it's expected to send one for Puerto Rico in early October, according to reports.) The government has indeed sent thousands of federal employees and multiple Coast Guard ships to the territory, but Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello said the humanitarian crisis requires more help, especially from the Pentagon in terms of law enforcement and transportation support, according to the Washington Post.
On the day of the storm, Trump sent out this message to Rossello, who's been generally positive about Trump's response.
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FEMA Administrator Brock Long arrived on the island Monday. Maria smacked Puerto Rico on Sept. 20.
Topics Donald Trump
