On Friday, Donald Trump approved $13 billion in aid for Puerto Rico. Hurricane Isaias struck the island this summer. This allowed Trump to declare a state of emergency for the island.

The declaration allowed FEMA to release the funds. This aid was verified by Puerto Rico governor Wanda Vazquez Garced who tweeted: "with much satisfaction from work done, today we announce the historical obligation of approximately $12.804 million in federal funds by @fema, intended for recovery and reconstruction projects in the @AEEONLINE and @EDUCACIONPR."

The aid will help in rebuilding Puerto Rico.

The island nation, a United States territory, is dealing with hurricanes in the past three years. The worst of those hurricanes was Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Elements of Donald Trump aid package to Puerto Rico

The total package is $13 billion dollars to help infrastructure projects in Puerto Rico. This is necessary for Puerto Rico to help rebuild critical infrastructure. The United States' territory needs help after hurricanes over the last three years.

$9.6 billion goes to Puerto Rico Electrical Power Authority. This will help them upgrade and rebuild their electrical grid—another $2 billion to the Puerto Rico Department of Education.

Opponents to Donald Trump react to the aid

Trump's opponents believe that the aid was long overdue.

They allowed the aid package because of the emergency declaration after Hurricane Isaias. Puerto Rico was still rebuilding after Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Fox News reported that Chuck Schumer stated, "the Trump administration dithered and delayed and refused to deliver timely disaster aid for Puerto Rico people." This is the basic argument from Trump's opponents that he lacked empathy for the people of Puerto Rico.

One point was Trump's refusal to give aid to the island in Puerto Rico in 2018. He did not act in 2017, 2018, so now he is making up for his misgivings because of Florida's tight race for the upcoming elections. They reject the notion of his claim of corruption in Puerto Rico. CNN quotes Trump stating, "Puerto Rico is one of the most corrupt places on earth, their political system is broken, and their politicians are either incompetent or corrupt."

Proponents of Donald Trump aid package

It earmarks the Puerto Rico aid for specific departments.

$9.6 billion is going directly to rebuild the power grid—another $2 billion to the department of education.

The aid is precisely eliminating the middleman to get the infrastructure built. The aid is available and released so that the projects can start at once. Governor Garced has received the aid with open arms.

The timing of the aid is under question. The polls in Florida are tight in the race for the president. Puerto Ricans have moved to Florida, and the aid is political to garner the votes of both Puerto Ricans on the island and in the states with a high Puerto Rican population.

Every story has a pro and con side. The important part is to remove the opinions and investigate the aid package.

Does the aid help the citizens of the affected region?

The aid is for critical infrastructure that Puerto Rico desperately needs. Fox News quoted Senator Schumer the following, "Long before the hurricanes, Puerto Rico had a crumbling and dirty energy grid." He is almost admitting that the grid was poor before the hurricane. It sounds like the electrical grid needed rebuilding before the hurricane.

Another $2 billion was given directly to the Department of Education. Education is important for developing society. Another element is needed and warranted.

The aid addresses specific areas in Puerto Rico. They needed aid to help rebuild the territory. Question one answered in the affirmative.

Are there ulterior motives for delivering aid?

Both opponents and proponents believe that the aid was politically motivated. We can construe everything the president proposes as politically motivated. The government must work during, through, and after the election.

The timing is suspect after polls show a close race in Florida. Puerto Ricans moved to Florida after the hurricanes. Their vote might affect the campaigns for both candidates. This could be a reason for the aid.

We need assumptions to answer this question. This question asks the motives of an individual. We can answer this answer with evidence and interpreting the said evidence.

The first bit of evidence to find is earlier versions of aid to Puerto Rico.

Any assistance in a non-election year or was the aid given right before the election. President Trump granted aid during non-election years.

The other question would have to look at the candidate's history—comparison of his off-election years versus an election year. The act would be political if an exception to how they performed in the past.

We cannot answer this question without opinion. That would be up to the reader to decide. The important part is to investigate, and the point of this article is to give you both sides of the argument.

Is the criticism proper in this situation?

Donald Trump shows a lack of empathy for the Puerto Ricans. Trump has given aid in the past. This shows empathy to help Puerto Ricans in the past.

The governor was also celebrating the working relationship between her and Donald Trump. The governor seems to show that the president is showing empathy in rebuilding Puerto Rico. The following is a tweet from Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced.

The other criticism was from Donald Trump. His claim of corruption and a failure of the political system in Puerto Rico. His opponents dismissed this.

In this video, it states that the hurricane aid was not a part of the investigation. There were arrests made for corruption involving politicians. They were using government money to help themselves politically, but not for personal gain.

This could counter the argument that corruption does not exist. An argument dismissed by Trump's opponents. Eliminating corruption is important to make sure that the aid is getting to the citizens.
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