Trump's Puerto Rico Response

[Admin]

Can anyone belief this, he's politicizing even the Puerto Rico disaster..

Donald Trump has lashed out at Puerto Rico politicians over their criticism of US relief efforts on the island following Hurricane Maria. The category four hurricane a week ago killed 16 people on the island and left millions in need of aid. In a series of tweets, Trump said that Puerto Rican officials showed "poor leadership ability" and "want everything to be done for them". It comes after the Mayor of San Juan made a desperate plea for help. "We have no time for patience any more," said Carmen Yulin Cruz in a news conference. "I am asking the president of the United States to make sure somebody is in charge that is up to the task of saving lives." She then appeared in a T-shirt that said "Help us, we're dying" for a CNN television interview. Skip Twitter post by @realDonaldTrump Follow Donald J. Trump ✔@realDonaldTrump The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump. 8:19 AM - Sep 30, 2017 14,068 14,068 Replies 5,347 5,347 Retweets 17,084 17,084 likes Twitter Ads info and privacy

Puerto Rico: Trump lashes out at San Juan mayor - BBC News

Does anyone really think the Mayor of San Juan has time for this nonsense??!

[Admin]

In one word, disastrous:

In short, the Trump administration squandered the early days of the response — and has done little to rectify the situation in the aftermath. That’s led to a truly catastrophic humanitarian crisis that one official at the Army Corps of Engineers said is comparable to the Iraq War in 2003.

Meanwhile, Trump has responded to the negative reviews by starting a Twitter feud with San Juan’s mayor, Carmen Yulín Cruz.

“So mad I could spit”: a former disaster relief official on Trump’s response to Puerto Rico - Vox

This WP report sums it up:

At first, the Trump administration seemed to be doing all the right things to respond to the disaster in Puerto Rico. As Hurricane Maria made landfall on Wednesday, Sept. 20, there was a frenzy of activity publicly and privately. The next day, President Trump called local officials on the island, issued an emergency declaration and pledged that all federal resources would be directed to help. But then for four days after that — as storm-ravaged Puerto Rico struggled for food and water amid the darkness of power outages — Trump and his top aides effectively went dark themselves.

Trump jetted to New Jersey that Thursday night to spend a long weekend at his private golf club there, save for a quick trip to Alabama for a political rally. Neither Trump nor any of his senior White House aides said a word publicly about the unfolding crisis. Trump did hold a meeting at his golf club that Friday with half a dozen Cabinet officials — including acting Homeland Security secretary Elaine Duke, who oversees disaster response — but the gathering was to discuss his new travel ban, not the hurricane. Duke and Trump spoke briefly about Puerto Rico but did not talk again until Tuesday, an administration official said.

Trump’s public schedule Monday was devoid of any meetings related to the storm, but he was becoming frustrated by the coverage he was seeing on TV, the senior official said.

At a dinner Monday evening with conservative leaders at the White House, Trump opened the gathering by briefly lamenting the tragedy unfolding in Puerto Rico before launching into a lengthy diatribe against Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) over his opposition to the Republicans’ failed health-care bill, according to one attendee.

After the dinner, Trump lashed out on social media. He blamed the island’s financial woes and ailing infrastructure for the difficult recovery process. He also declared that efforts to provide food, water and medical care were “doing well.”


On the ground in Puerto Rico, nothing could be further from the truth. It had taken until Monday — five days after Maria made landfall — for the first senior administration officials from Washington to touch down to survey the damage firsthand. And only after White House Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert and FEMA Director Brock Long returned to Washington did the administration leap into action.

The administration still fumbled at key moments after stepping up its response. A week after landfall, Trump still had not waived the Jones Act, a law that barred foreign-flagged vessels from delivering aid to Puerto Rico. Such a waiver had been granted for previous hurricanes this year.



Asked why his administration had delayed in issuing the waiver, Trump said Wednesday that “a lot of shippers and . . . a lot of people that work in the shipping industry” didn’t want it lifted.


“If this is supposed to be the ‘drain the swamp’ president, then don’t worry about the lobbyists and do what’s needed and waive the act,” said James Norton, a former deputy assistant homeland security secretary under President George W. Bush who oversaw disaster response for the agency. “We’re talking about people here.”

Lost weekend: How Trump’s time at his golf club hurt the response to Maria - The Washington Post

Read both articles in full, it's horrible.

[Admin]

President Donald Trump doubled down on defense of his administration's response to the devastation in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria, urging Americans not to believe the "Fake News or politically motivated ingrates." In a series of tweets Sunday morning, Trump said his administration has done a "great job" with hurricane response on the island.

"People are now starting to recognize the amazing work that has been done by FEMA and our great Military," Trump tweeted. "All buildings now inspected for safety. Thank you to the Governor of P.R. and to all of those who are working so closely with our First Responders. Fantastic job!"
On Twitter Saturday, the president unleashed on those criticizing his administration's slow response to provide food, water, electricity, and other basic necessities to the commonwealth's 3.4 million US citizens. "Results of recovery efforts will speak much louder than complaints by San Juan Mayor. Doing everything we can to help great people of PR!" Trump said on Twitter.

Trump attacks San Juan's mayor, defends Puerto Rico hurricane response - Business Insider

This is just beyond pale. The mayor of San Juan lost her own home, does anyone believe that she has time to play politics? Most of the island has been thrown back into the Middle Ages, people are dying left, right and center. This is no time for politics. 

And if Trump asks you to believe something, be aware. His track record on that is terrible.

[Admin]

While much of Puerto Rico has been thrown back into the Middle Ages..

President Trump last Monday reportedly called Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones four times imploring him not to let his team kneel during the national anthem. The president repeatedly called Jones while the owner stood in the locker room before the Monday night football game against the Arizona Cardinals, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.

Trump called Cowboys' Jerry Jones four times about anthem protests: report | TheHill

[Admin]

But the world is beginning to draw a straight line from the devastation in Puerto Rico straight to the White House. Trump’s instinct so far is to turn the island’s devastation into another front in culture war politics, a strategy that could help his own political career survive. The rest of us will just have to pray for good luck.

Puerto Rico is all our worst fears about Trump coming real - Vox

[Admin]

Since Trump watches Fox, no wonder he was slow out of the starting blocks, from Vox:

After Hurricane Maria caused a massive crisis in Puerto Rico, a Morning Consult poll found that almost half of Americans don’t know that Puerto Ricans are US citizens. The poll also found that people who did not know they were citizens were far less likely to support government aid for the island.

This meant that news media, perhaps more than ever, had a moral imperative to cover the story diligently and empathetically. That didn’t happen. A scathing analysis by FiveThirtyEight’s Dhrumil Mehta found that we in the media have covered this story far less than the previous two hurricanes that hit Texas and Florida.

But even with the dismal levels of coverage, there’s one particular media outlet that has neglected Puerto Rico more than everyone else — and it happens to be the most-watched cable news outlet in the country.
That is, of course, Fox News.

And it’s not just the volume of coverage but also the content. Both CNN and MSNBC spent a lot of time talking about the resource shortages in Puerto Rico — the lack of fresh water, food, electricity, and gas. This is the kind of coverage that reiterates that Puerto Ricans are both part of the American tribe and facing a dire situation. It’s the kind of coverage that humanizes a disaster.
But Fox News didn’t dwell on this aspect of the story:

So what did the network cover in the small amount of time it focused on Puerto Rico?
Well, it was mostly about President Trump — and it was certainly not focused much on his inaction. Rather, it focused on what Trump was doing, like waiving the Jones Act, saying there are “tremendous strides” being made, and, of course tweeting. (Trump criticized San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz when she appeared on TV and desperately asked for more federal assistance.) There was also a brief focus on how the mainstream media is politicizing Puerto Rico.

[Admin]

And you can always simply delete unwelcome facts..

The Trump administration has removed statistics from a federal website that revealed how dire the crisis in Puerto Rico remains in the wake of Hurricane Maria, according to a new report. As Jenna Johnson reports for the Washington Post, sometime between Wednesday and Thursday morning, the Federal Emergency Management Agency removed information that showed only half of Puerto Ricans have access to water and only 5 percent of the island has electricity. The website was set up to document the federal response to the hurricane.

A FEMA spokesperson told the Post that information about the electricity and water access are still publicly accessible on Status.pr, a site run by Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rosselló. That website is in Spanish. On Friday, House Democrats criticized Trump’s administration for the removal of the information. “In response to the complete devastation in Puerto Rico, we have seen President Trump focus more on his public perception than on actually providing life-saving food, water, electricity, and medical aid to the Puerto Rican people whose lives are on the line,” Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM), chair of the Hispanic Caucus, said in an email to Vox. “I am outraged by the lack of transparency.”

President Trump has praised his administration’s “amazing” response to the hurricane, tweeting that the White House is doing “a GREAT job.” But as Vox’s Alexia Fernández Campbell has reported, the Trump administration has been slow to respond at virtually every step

Trump’s administration deleted data on Puerto Rico’s crisis from FEMA’s website - Vox

Read the article for a detailed look at the response.

[Admin]

Doing a heckuva job..

Seven Democratic senators have asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to authorize full reconstruction aid to Puerto Rico, which the island's government requested two weeks ago. Chuck Schumer, D-NY, Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, and five other Democratic senators sent a letter to FEMA administrator Brock Long on Friday, urging the agency to approve funding for Puerto Rico to rebuild roads, fix the electric grid and repair other damaged infrastructure. "Permanent Work funding from FEMA is the main source of federal assistance to help a community repair and rebuild its public infrastructure after a natural disaster, and there should be absolutely no ambiguity that the federal government intends to provide this crucial assistance to help Puerto Rico build back after Hurricane Maria," they wrote.

It's unclear why FEMA hasn't yet authorized what is known as C-G public assistance. Two weeks ago, a FEMA spokesperson in Puerto Rico told Vox that the island "was well on its way" to getting this aid, though he didn't say how soon. FEMA approved this type of reconstruction aid for the US Virgin Islands two weeks after Maria hit; and it was approved for Texas ten days after Harvey. Yet the situation in Puerto Rico is far worse: About 87 percent of the island still doesn't have power, less than half of cellphone towers are working, and about 28 percent of the territory still doesn't have running water.

President Trump could speed up the process if he cared to. The Stafford Act, which gives FEMA authority to carry out emergency missions, also gives the president broad discretion in guiding the agency's efforts: The president “may provide accelerated federal assistance and federal support where necessary to save lives, prevent human suffering, or mitigate severe damage” even without “a specific request.”

FEMA has yet to authorize full disaster help for Puerto Rico  - Vox

Early on Wednesday, September 20, Hurricane Maria — a powerful Category 4 hurricane with 150 mph winds — made direct landfall on Puerto Rico, bisecting the entire island and drenching it with feet of rain. What’s happened since has been truly catastrophic for Puerto Rico. There’s still little power on the island. In many places, there’s still no water to drink or bathe in or to flush toilets. There’s limited food and cell service, and dozens of remote villages have been completely cut off from everything for weeks. “Make no mistake — this is a humanitarian disaster involving 3.4 million US citizens,” Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said the Monday after Maria hit.

The initial recovery response from the US federal government has been lackluster, and President Trump’s comments have not inspired confidence. After dwelling early in the week on the facts that 1) Puerto Rico is an island, and 2) Puerto Rico is in massive debt, the president and his senior officials then went on the defensive, describing the administration’s response so far as a “good news story.” The Federal Emergency Management Agency still has not authorized full reconstruction aid to Puerto Rico. “Help us. Without robust and consistent help we will die,” Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, said in a statement on October 12. “Mr. President, fulfill your moral imperative towards the people of Puerto Rico.” This is still a terrible disaster that deserves more coverage and a better-coordinated response — and both appear to have been impeded by widespread confusion about Puerto Rico’s relationship to the United States and the severity of its current situation. Here’s what every American needs to know.

What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s Hurricane Maria disaster - Vox

The article follows describing extensively nine elements of the crisis:

1) 3.4 million US citizens live in Puerto Rico, and they are entitled to the same government response as any state. But half of Americans don’t even know that. 
2) Hurricane Maria was like a 50-mile-wide tornado that made a direct hit on the island
3) There’s not enough water or food on the island. Power will be out for months in some places.
4) Puerto Rico’s economy is in shambles, and the storm will make it worse
5) Experts believe the death toll could reach into the hundreds
6) The US government is responding to the disaster, but it’s going slowly
7) Trump could be doing much more to help
8) Other Caribbean islands are hurting too
9) You can help

What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s Hurricane Maria disaster - Vox