Trump Scores His Puerto Rico Response A Perfect ‘10’
- 7 years ago
President Trump has rated his administration’s disaster relief response to Puerto Rico a perfect “10.”
President Trump has rated his administration’s disaster relief response to Puerto Rico a perfect “10.”
During an Oval Office press conference with the U.S. territory’s governor, Ricardo Rossello, Thursday, the president was asked about his assessment of the federal response, and he replied, “I'd say it was a 10.”
“I’d say it was probably the most difficult when you talk about relief, when you talk about search, when you talk about all of the different levels, and even when you talk about lives saved," Trump said. "You look at the number. I mean, this was — I think it was worse than Katrina. It was, in many ways, worse than anything people have ever seen.”
“I give ourselves a ‘10'...We have provided so much, so fast. We were actually there before the storm hit,” Trump later noted.
However, according to Bloomberg, “Rossello...sidestepped a question from a reporter on how he would rate the administration’s response. When Trump followed up by asking him, ‘Did we do a great job?’ Rossello answered: ‘You responded immediately, sir.’”
The president's remarks come in the wake of criticisms the Trump administration has faced for not responding as quickly or with enough resources after the island was hit by Hurricane Maria on September 20.
In fact, CNN reported Wednesday that nearly one month later, more than 80 percent of Puerto Rico’s inhabitants are without power and more than a third of homes still do not have “reliable drinking water.”
President Trump has rated his administration’s disaster relief response to Puerto Rico a perfect “10.”
During an Oval Office press conference with the U.S. territory’s governor, Ricardo Rossello, Thursday, the president was asked about his assessment of the federal response, and he replied, “I'd say it was a 10.”
“I’d say it was probably the most difficult when you talk about relief, when you talk about search, when you talk about all of the different levels, and even when you talk about lives saved," Trump said. "You look at the number. I mean, this was — I think it was worse than Katrina. It was, in many ways, worse than anything people have ever seen.”
“I give ourselves a ‘10'...We have provided so much, so fast. We were actually there before the storm hit,” Trump later noted.
However, according to Bloomberg, “Rossello...sidestepped a question from a reporter on how he would rate the administration’s response. When Trump followed up by asking him, ‘Did we do a great job?’ Rossello answered: ‘You responded immediately, sir.’”
The president's remarks come in the wake of criticisms the Trump administration has faced for not responding as quickly or with enough resources after the island was hit by Hurricane Maria on September 20.
In fact, CNN reported Wednesday that nearly one month later, more than 80 percent of Puerto Rico’s inhabitants are without power and more than a third of homes still do not have “reliable drinking water.”