President Donald Trump sent out a series of harsh tweets Saturday morning against San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz for criticizing his administration's response to the Hurricane Maria relief effort. Trump accused her of "poor leadership" and that Puerto Rico has not done enough to help itself.
Even days after Hurricane Maria's wrath ended, the island is still suffering from a lack of food, gas, and basic communications.
Trump continued to tweet that Puerto Rico should not depend entirely on the federal government, and the relief needs to be a community effort.
According to Trump, there are 10,000 federal officials currently on the island doing a "fantastic job" despite the lack of roads and electricity.
...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
...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
Cruz's response
Ms. Cruz has spoken out against Trump's slow response to help Puerto Rico several times since the storm hit. She appeared on television this week to respond to acting secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke's comments that the storm was “really a good news story in terms of our ability to reach people and the limited number of deaths” from the hurricane.
As many as 16 Puerto Ricans died from this storm—a number that may rise due to lack of resources and polluted drinking water.
Ms. Cruz refuted this statement by saying this crisis is not a good news story, but rather a story of death and a countries inability to bring basic resources to its people due to an allegedly destroyed infrastructure.
Cruz, wearing a shirt stating "Help us, we are dying," told Anderson Cooper Friday night that people are drinking water from creeks and are "caged" in their homes due to the lack of electricity.
The very big ocean
According to the Washington Post, on Tuesday, Trump explained the government's allegedly slow response to sending aid to Puerto Rico is due to the fact that it is an island.
Trump then went on to explain the government has received "A-pluses" in Texas and they will receive one in Puerto—despite the "big ocean" in between the US mainland and the island that he has mentioned several times.
Trump's critics have been referring to these statements as excuses rather than legit reasons for being unable to reach the island.
According to MSNBC, Puerto Rico is about 1,000 miles from Miami—about the same distance between Washington D.C. and Trump's Florida golf resort.
Trump also tweeted on Monday, amid their pleas for help, that Puerto Rico owes billions of dollars to Wall Street and is in severe debt.
...owed to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with. Food, water and medical are top priorities - and doing well. #FEMA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017
...It's old electrical grid, which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the Island was destroyed, with billions of dollars....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017
Texas & Florida are doing great but Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017
