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Trump, in Puerto Rico, Compares Death Toll With ‘Real Catastrophe,’ Katrina’s Trump Lobs Praise, and Paper Towels, to Puerto Rico Storm Victims
(about 4 hours later)
WASHINGTON — President Trump told officials in Puerto Rico on Tuesday that they should be proud that only 16 people died in Hurricane Maria, compared with the thousands killed “in a real catastrophe” like Hurricane Katrina. WASHINGTON — President Trump ventured on Tuesday to a storm-ravaged American island territory where residents have felt neglected by their government, telling local officials that they should be proud that only 16 people were known to have died in Hurricane Maria.
“Sixteen versus in the thousands,” Mr. Trump said during his first visit to the island, after asking one of the officials what the death count was. “You can be very proud of all your people, all of our people working together. Sixteen versus literally thousands of people. You can be very proud.” “Sixteen versus in the thousands,” Mr. Trump said, comparing the storm’s certified death toll to the 1,833 killed in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina. “You can be very proud of all of your people, all of our people working together. Sixteen versus literally thousands of people. You can be very proud.”
The government’s relief efforts in Texas and Florida compare favorably to the bungled response to Katrina in 2005, which killed 1,833 people. But the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz, complained that the response in Puerto Rico had fallen short of those in Texas and Florida, which prompted Mr. Trump to lash out at her over the weekend. Shortly after Mr. Trump departed the island, the Puerto Rican government said the death toll from the hurricane had risen to 34.
At a briefing held at an air base, Mr. Trump was determined to salute his team and soak up praise. He shook hands with the mayor but did not ask her to speak, recognizing instead Puerto Rico’s governor, who “did not play politics,” he said, and its congressional representative, who applauded the administration’s performance. Overall, the trip marked a well-worn routine for a president on his fourth visit to a disaster zone in two months: a pep rally-like briefing with officials in an aircraft hangar, a quick drive past twisted houses and uprooted trees and a brief, friendly encounter with victims of the destruction.
“Thank you, Mr. President, for all you have been doing for the island,” said the representative, Jenniffer González-Colón, after declaring that Washington had sent everything Puerto Rico needed. And like his earlier travels, it had its peculiar moments: He also gently tossed rolls of paper towels into a crowd that gathered to see him at Calvary Chapel, outside the island’s capital, San Juan.
“You were really generous,” Mr. Trump replied. “It’s so hard when you have men and women that have worked so hard and so long, and many of them came from two other catastrophic hurricanes.” This time, however, Mr. Trump flew into a different kind of turbulence. Over the weekend, the president lashed out at the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz, after she complained that the federal response in Puerto Rico had fallen short of the responses in Texas and Florida. She was not mollified after meeting him.
The president then went around the table, praising the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, military commanders and a half-dozen members of his Cabinet who accompanied him to Puerto Rico. “The first part of the meeting was a public-relations situation,” Ms. Cruz said in an interview with CNN about the briefing she attended with the president. While she said the White House staff was helpful and receptive, Mr. Trump’s communications style sometimes “gets in the way.”
Singling out Mick Mulvaney, his budget director, Mr. Trump said, “I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you’re throwing our budget out of whack.” Looking around the room for his chief of staff, John F. Kelly, who was standing in the back, Mr. Trump said, “Boy, is he watching.” “I would hope that the president of the United States stops spouting out comments that really hurt the people of Puerto Rico,” she said, “because, rather than commander in chief, he sort of becomes miscommunicator in chief.”
Before leaving the White House on Tuesday, Mr. Trump told reporters that Ms. Cruz was now mostly satisfied. Mr. Trump greeted the mayor but did not invite her to speak, recognizing instead Puerto Rico’s governor, whom the president said “did not play politics,” and its congressional representative, who lavishly applauded the administration’s performance.
“I think she’s come back a long way,” the president said. “I think it’s now acknowledged what a great job we’ve done.” He asserted that the relief effort was as competent as those in Texas and Florida, and he added, “It’s actually a much tougher situation.” “Thank you, Mr. President, for all you have been doing for the island,” said Jenniffer González-Colón, the territory’s nonvoting representative, who declared that Washington had sent everything Puerto Rico needed.
Mr. Trump, however, repeated his earlier criticism that Puerto Ricans were not doing enough to help themselves. Despite the roads being cleared and communications being re-established, he said, truck drivers were not transporting enough supplies. “We need their truck drivers to start driving trucks,” he said. “On a local level, they have to give us more help.” “You were really generous,” Mr. Trump replied. “It’s so important when you have men and women that have worked so hard and so long, and many of them came from two other catastrophic hurricanes.”
On Saturday, after Ms. Cruz angrily disputed the Trump administration’s assertion that the relief effort was going well, he said in a Twitter post that she had been instructed by Democrats to be “nasty to Trump,” and added that Puerto Ricans “want everything to be done for them.” The president then went around the briefing table, praising the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, military commanders and a half-dozen members of his cabinet who accompanied him to Puerto Rico — which was already facing about $74 billion in debt even before the hurricane hit.
White House officials have been nervous that if protesters greeted Mr. Trump, it might set him off again. As late as Monday afternoon, some aides were urging the president to delay the visit, which comes a day before he was scheduled to fly to Las Vegas to meet with law enforcement officials and victims of the mass shooting there. In singling out Mick Mulvaney, his budget director, Mr. Trump said, “I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you’ve thrown our budget a little out of whack.” Looking around the room for his chief of staff, John F. Kelly, who was standing in the back, Mr. Trump said, “Boy, is he watching.”
In Puerto Rico, Mr. Trump’s schedule limited his exposure to the public. After the briefing at the Muñiz Air National Guard Base, he met with storm victims at a church. Before leaving the White House on Tuesday, Mr. Trump told reporters he believed Ms. Cruz was now mostly satisfied.
The president handed out packages of rice, stamped “Arroz Rico,” to the crowd, declaring, “There’s a lot of love in this room, a lot of love,” according to a pool report. He also gently tossed rolls of paper towels into the crowd. “I think she’s come back a long way,” he said. “I think it’s now acknowledged what a great job we’ve done.” He asserted that the relief effort was as effective as those in Texas and Florida, and he added, “It’s actually a much tougher situation.”
Later in the afternoon, Mr. Trump was scheduled to fly to a Navy amphibious assault ship for meetings with the governors of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands. Mr. Trump, however, repeated his earlier criticism that some Puerto Ricans were not doing enough to help themselves. Despite the roads being cleared and communications being re-established, he said, truck drivers were not transporting enough supplies. “We need their truck drivers to start driving trucks,” he said. “On a local level, they have to give us more help.”
The White House asked the governor of the Virgin Islands, Kenneth E. Mapp, to fly to Puerto Rico because of the logistical complications of having the president and his entourage travel to those islands, parts of which have been severely damaged. On Saturday, after Ms. Cruz angrily disputed the administration’s assertion that the relief effort was going well, the president fired back in a Twitter post that she had been instructed by Democrats to be “nasty to Trump,” and added that Puerto Ricans “want everything to be done for them.”
The president has gotten more comfortable with these visits, after traveling to Texas after Hurricane Harvey and Florida after Hurricane Irma. On Tuesday, he wore his now-familiar uniform: a blue windbreaker with the presidential seal and white baseball cap, emblazoned with the letters U.S.A. White House officials were nervous that Mr. Trump would be set off again if he were greeted by protesters in Puerto Rico. As late as Monday afternoon, some aides were urging the president to delay the visit, which came a day before he was scheduled to fly to Las Vegas to meet with law enforcement officials and victims of Sunday’s mass shooting there.
Melania Trump, the first lady, accompanied the president, as she has on previous visits to storm-ravaged areas. She wore a navy blue sweater and pants, and stiletto heels, as she left the White House. But, as on earlier trips, she changed while en route into more practical boots and her own baseball cap. There were a few other signs of discontent on Tuesday. As Mr. Trump’s motorcade drove from an air base to a church — passing hundreds of downed trees — it also passed a woman clutching a placard that said, “You are a bad hombre,” according to a pool report.
Since the weekend, Mr. Trump has sharply scaled back his Twitter posts about the hurricanes or other potentially fraught issues. But speaking to reporters on Tuesday, he continued to emphasize the government’s performance rather than the plight of the victims. Sitting in a traffic jam near the San Juan airport before the arrival of Air Force One, a resident, Jaime Vega, disputed Mr. Trump’s claim that Puerto Ricans should be doing more to help their own recovery. “We are doing,” he said. “It’s only now that they are doing something.”
“In Texas and in Florida, we get an A+,” he said. “And I’ll tell you what, I think we’ve done just as good in Puerto Rico.” “Let him come so he can see what there really is, and so nobody can tell him made-up stories,” said Mr. Vega, an accountant.
“The first responders, the military, FEMA — they have done an incredible job in Puerto Rico,” Mr. Trump continued. “And whether it’s her or anybody else,” he said, referring to Ms. Cruz, “they’re all starting to say it.” Outside a bar in the Santurce neighborhood of San Juan, an hour after Air Force One departed Tuesday afternoon, people debated what Mr. Trump’s visit might have accomplished.
Nearly two weeks after the storm swept over Puerto Rico, the military has continued to funnel troops and supplies to prop up the island’s degraded infrastructure, including a dam and a barely functioning cellular network. “He was just measuring Puerto Rico by the amount of dead compared to Katrina,” said José Tormos, 62, an employee of the local government in Guaynabo. “FEMA’s response has been too slow.”
On Tuesday, the Pentagon said that the Comfort, a hospital ship, was scheduled to anchor in San Juan’sharbor, and the arrival of the amphibious assault ship Wasp had helped increase the overall number of aircraft supporting relief efforts on the island from 57 to 80. Even before the death toll was increased on Tuesday evening, others noted that the actual number of people killed by Hurricane Maria may rise significantly, given that the earlier, certified tally was outdated and that the island government’s record-keeping ability has been damaged by the storm.
Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told lawmakers on Tuesday that 10,000 service members were deployed to Puerto Rico, 4,000 of them on active duty. Marlene Martinez, 51, an accountant, said, “It’s just an example of how we’re treated like second-class citizens.”
Despite the influx of relief, much of the island lacks basic amenities and electricity. More than 50 of the island’s roughly 65 functioning hospitals are running on generators, the Pentagon said. Additionally, according to statistics released by FEMA, only 50 percent of Puerto Rico has access to clean drinking water. Others were more concerned about the reconstruction of the island and their own precarious situations than Mr. Trump’s comments.
“The people of Puerto Rico don’t care whether Trump is the god or the devil,” said Edgardo Tormos, 58. “This is about the recovery of Puerto Rico.”
Still, others seemed happy just to have the president in their midst. In a 20-minute visit to Calvary Chapel, an English-speaking evangelical church that has become a collection center for supplies, Mr. Trump shook hands, took selfies and offered encouragement in the chapel’s sanctuary.
“For us, it’s really nothing political,” said Naitsa Marrero, an administrative assistant who helped organize the stop. “Puerto Rico needs help, and often this type of thing sheds light on what’s happening here — a crisis.”
Jason Dennett, the church’s pastor, said he welcomed the idea of a visit when the Secret Service contacted him five days ago. “He offered his help to the people of Puerto Rico,” Mr. Dennett said. “He said he was here to help and that the support would continue.”
Mr. Trump boarded a Navy amphibious assault ship for meetings with the governors of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands. The White House asked the Virgin Islands’s governor, Kenneth E. Mapp, to fly to Puerto Rico because of the logistical complications of flying the president to those islands, parts of which have been severely damaged.
Still, Mr. Mapp told him, “because of your commitment, Mr. President, we’re talking about opening schools and welcoming cruise ships back.”
Mr. Trump has gotten used to being a kind of second responder, having traveled to Texas and Florida after two other hurricanes over the past two months. Since the weekend, Mr. Trump has sharply scaled back his Twitter posts about the hurricanes or other potentially charged issues.
But speaking to reporters on Tuesday, he continued to emphasize the government’s performance rather than the plight of the victims.
“In Texas and in Florida, we get an A-plus,” Mr. Trump said. “And I’ll tell you what, I think we’ve done just as good in Puerto Rico.”