Trump Neglected Puerto Rico, But He Didn't Forget It
If he had learned lessons from Hurricane Maria instead of just holding a grudge, the president might be more prepared for Florence.
This isn’t disaster relief.
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty ImagesOn Sept. 20 last year, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico, tearing apart the island’s antiquated power grid, destroying homes, shuttering schools and hospitals, upending the water supply and leaving about 3,000 people dead according to the most recent, independent estimates.
President Donald Trump and his administration didn’t convene a meeting in the White House’s Situation Room to discuss the federal government’s disaster relief response until six days after Maria hit. In the interim, Trump had campaigned in Alabama (without saying a word about Puerto Rico’s crisis) and didn’t post any tweets about the hurricane until Sept. 25. Shortly after he began tweeting, he used his platform to launch salvos at the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz, and at the media and Puerto Ricans themselves for what was quickly becoming a humanitarian crisis.