Compares Death Toll to ‘A Real Catastrophe Like Katrina’
President Trump met with the governor of Puerto Rico late Tuesday morning and scolded the U.S. territory for costing the federal government money.Â
“I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you’ve thrown our budget a little out of whack because we spent a lot of money on Puerto Rico,” the president said. “That’s fine, we saved a lot of lives,†he added.
The president made his remarks while seated next to the First Lady and the governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló. Trump had just mentioned his budget director, Mick Mulvaney, saying, “Mick is in charge of a thing called the budget.â€
The president went on to tell attendees at the small gathering, which was not a live press conference, that they should be proud that the current death toll is 16. (that figure is expected to rise) unlike “a real catastrophe like Katrina.”
“Every death is a horror, but if you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina, and you look at the tremendous hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people that died, and you look at what happened here with really a storm that was just totally overbearing, nobody has seen anything like this,†the president said.
“What is your death count as of this morning, 17?” he asked the governor.
“Sixteen people certified,” Gov. Rosselló said.
“Sixteen people certified versus in the thousands,†Trump repeated. “You can be very proud of all of your people, all of our people working together. Sixteen versus literally thousands of people. You can be very proud.â€
Trump added that he thought everyone “watching… can be really proud of what’s taken place.”
He did not express any support for victims of the hurricane. Instead, Trump kept the focus on himself and political leaders, praising his response and theirs.
It was just this morning President Trump blamed Puerto Rico for not assisting the federal government enough.
“We need their truck drivers,” Trump told reporters. “Their drivers have to start driving trucks. We have to do that. So at a local level they have to give us more help.”
Trump did not mention the mayor of San Juan, who was present. She has been very vocal with her criticisms of the Trump administration’s response to Hurricane Maria. Trump reportedly “ignored” Mayor Carmen YulÃn Cruz, who he attacked as a poor leader while suggesting Puerto Ricans are lazy, just days ago.
Today was not the first time Trump has blamed Puerto Rico, and not the first time he has complained about the financial costs of the two, back-to-back hurricanes Puerto Rico has endured. Trump has not once complained about costs in Texas and Florida, or the surrounding states, and in fact demanded Congress pass an aid package quickly to help those two states.
One week ago the president took to Twitter to blast Puerto Rico, and to lament over their debt crisis, warning Wall Street will have to be repaid. He did not mention one word about he human suffering.
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