Following the latest death toll from last year’s Hurrican Maria, President Donald Trump maintained his administration did a great job helping Puerto Ricans in the aftermath of the devastating storm.
“I think we did a fantastic job in Puerto Rico,” the President said during a press conference on Wednesday. “We’re still helping Puerto Rico. The governor is an excellent guy and he’s really happy with the job we’ve done.”
Trump further said the United States “put billions and billions of dollars in Puerto Rico” and the people there appreciate what the government has done. The President, who compared the island to other U.S. territories hit by hurricanes, also noted that the Puerto Rican electric plant was damaged even before the devastating storm ravaged the island.
“You know, Texas healed quickly and the people were incredible. Florida healed quickly and everybody worked very hard. Puerto Rico was actually more difficult because of the fact it’s an island, it’s much harder to get things onto the island,” President Trump said.
A day earlier, Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello admitted they could have been better prepared and more effective in handling the situation.
“I agree that we could be and should be more effective on the operational side. I agree I made mistakes. This could have been done differently,” he said, after pointing out that the official death count would be updated from 64 to 2,975.
He further stressed that an investigatory commission will be established to put in place recommendations given in a George Washington University study which also came up with the latest figures concerning the number of storm-related deaths.
“This is a time for Puerto Ricans to bind together, to mourn, to reflect on the things that were done properly and the things that were mistakes,” the governor said.
Be the first to comment