After immense devastation and loss from Hurricane Maria, President Donald trump said on Tuesday he would visit Puerto Rico next week.
The country is currently undergoing a humanitarian crisis and quickly running out of resources. Politicians on both sides of the aisle, including everyday citizens, have questioned Trump's lack of response concerning Puerto Rico's current state.
Since last Wednesday, Trump has tweeted about the NFL and the national anthem 19 times. How many about Puerto Rico? #DoYourJob #Chump #PR
— Tom Kielty (@TheTomKielty) September 26, 2017
Recently, Trump's main discussion points on Twitter and during public meetings were concerning to the NFL, the Russian investigation and verbally attacking the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un.
Trump made no comments over the weekend.
The state of the island
According to the Washington Post, Trump said during a meeting with lawmakers, he has been unable to visit the island because of the level of damage it undertook. He also said he did not want to disrupt the current relief effort.
Puerto Rico Governor, Ricardo Rossello, told the Washington Post help is still needed on the island and the hurricane clearly caused a disaster.
According to Vox, Puerto Rico's infrastructure, power grid, and state of mind has been in complete disarray since Hurricane Maria made landfall. Many citizens are without work. The island is also unable to receive or send most communications; leaving the 3.5 million United States citizen living there in the dark.
It is predicated parts of the island will be without power for four to six months. Citizens will rely on generators for cooking, power, and air conditioning if they can afford it.
Ten Puerto Ricans died from this storm, but this number is expected to rise in the coming days due to the lack of resources.
Federal relief and aid
Trump approved a disaster declaration for Puerto Rico a day after Hurricane Maria made landfall, according to Vox.
The United States has sent 2,500 natural guard troops to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands since then.
AP reported the financial board controlling Puerto Rico made $1 billion available to rebuild from this destruction.
This past Saturday, San Juan's port reopened and delivered much-needed supplies, including 1.6 million gallons of water, and 23,000 cots, according to AP.
Companies like Starbucks, Verizon, and Google are donating large sums of money to the island, according to CNN Money. AT&T and T-mobile are also waiving cell phone charges due to the power outages and difficulty communicating with loved ones.
