President Trump visited storm-ravaged Puerto Rico on Tuesday to survey damage and talk to residents, while also meeting and briefly praising the San Juan mayor following a feud over the administration’s response to Hurricane Maria.
The president, accompanied by first lady Melania Trump, participated in a packed briefing on storm recovery shortly after landing at Luis Muñiz Air National Guard Base in San Juan.
San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, who has repeatedly criticized the president’s actions since the storm wreaked havoc on the U.S. territory last month, was seen shaking Trump’s hand and joining him for the briefing in a hangar at the base.
President Trump is seen greeting San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, who has repeatedly criticized the president’s actions since the storm wreaked havoc on the territory last month.
(White House pool photo)
Trump didn’t mention Cruz in his remarks to the media. But – in comments that seemed meant to draw a contrast – the president singled out Ricardo Rosselló, the governor of Puerto Rico, for praise.
“This governor did not play politics,” Trump said. “He didn’t play it all. He was saying it like it was. And he was giving us the highest grades.”
Trump is in Puerto Rico for several briefings and to visit with storm victims. He is meeting with senior military personnel and government officials, including Rosselló and Kenneth Mapp, the governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands, which was also severely damaged by the storm.
“Now, I hate to tell you Puerto Rico, but you’ve thrown our budget a little bit out of whack,” the president said at the hangar briefing. “Because we’ve spent a lot of money on Puerto Rico. And that’s fine, we’ve saved a lot of lives.”
Trump’s visit comes just days after getting into a high-profile spat with the San Juan mayor. Over the weekend, in a series of tweets, Trump fired back at Cruz and slammed her “poor leadership ability” after she criticized his response to the hurricane.
Trump downplayed the spat with the mayor when asked about it by reporters as he departed the White House on Tuesday.
“Well, I think she’s come back a long way,” Trump said. “I think it’s now acknowledged what a great job we’ve done, and people are looking at that. And in Texas and in Florida, we get an A+. And I’ll tell you what, I think we’ve done just as good in Puerto Rico, and it’s actually a much tougher situation.”
But Trump added: “On a local level, they have to give us more help.”
A number of top officials joined the president for the trip, including Jenniffer González-Colón, Puerto Rico’s representative in Congress, Energy Secretary Rick Perry, acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, Small Business administrator Linda McMahon and Homeland Security adviser Tom Bossert.
FEMA administrator Brock Long is also in Puerto Rico.
