President Trump on Wednesday doubled down on his administration’s response to Hurricane Maria, which slammed into Puerto Rico last year, leaving nearly 3,000 people dead — and lashed out at the mayor of San Juan, who has been a critic of the effort, as “incompetent.”
“We got A Pluses for our recent hurricane work in Texas and Florida (and did an unappreciated great job in Puerto Rico, even though an inaccessible island with very poor electricity and a totally incompetent Mayor of San Juan),” Trump wrote on Twitter. “We are ready for the big one that is coming!”
The president raised eyebrows Tuesday when — during an Oval Office meeting to go over preparations for Hurricane Florence, which is barreling toward the East Coast with Category 4 winds — he touted his controversial response to Maria.
“I think Puerto Rico was incredibly successful. Puerto Rico was, actually, our toughest one of all because it’s an island, so you just — you can’t truck things onto it. Everything is by boat,” he said during the meeting.
“The job that FEMA and law enforcement and everybody did, working along with the governor in Puerto Rico, I think was tremendous. I think that Puerto Rico was an incredible, unsung success,” he continued.
Shortly after Trump’s comments, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz shot back at the president.
“Success? Federal response according to Trump in Puerto Rico a success? If he thinks the death of 3,000 people is a success God help us all,” she wrote on Twitter.
Cruz blasted Trump last September for not reacting quickly enough after Maria slammed into Puerto Rico and knocked out power on the island, flooded roads, destroyed bridges and left thousands of people stranded.
“We are dying here. And I cannot fathom the thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out the logistics for a small island of 100 miles by 35 miles,” she said. “I am begging. I am begging anyone that can hear us to save us from dying. If anybody out there is listening to us, we are dying. And you are killing us with the inefficiency and bureaucracy.”
Puerto Rico’s government last month updated the death toll to 2,975 from an initial estimate of 64.
Asked about Trump touting his administration’s efforts in Puerto Rico, Jeff Byard, FEMA’s associate administrator for the Office of Response and Recovery, said the goal with Florence is to prevent any deaths.
“Successful response is obviously no one wants any deaths. So that’s the message of the day, we’re saying ‘Get out’ if you’re in an area where you know it’s going to flood,” he said during a hurricane briefing Wednesday.