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Trump criticises Puerto Rico, saying hurricane aid cannot go on 'for ever' Trump hints at ending aid as Puerto Ricans forced to drink polluted water
(about 3 hours later)
Donald Trump renewed his criticisms of Puerto Rico on Thursday and said the US government could not keep providing federal aid in the wake of Hurricane Maria “forever”. Donald Trump has seemingly threatened to pull federal emergency support from Puerto Rico a day after his administration reported that desperate people in the US territory have been drinking from contaminated wells due to a lack of water.
The president attacked the US territory in a series of tweets on Thursday. In a series of tweets sent on Thursday morning, Trump said “We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. Forever!”
He said there was a “total lack of accountability”, attributing that thought to the governor, Ricardo Rosselló, and “electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes”. The president preceded this with tweets that stated “Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes” in Puerto Rico and quoted a TV host who said of the territory that “a financial crisis looms largely of their own making”.
The president added: “We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!” There are currently more than 1,400 Fema personnel in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands responding to the humanitarian crisis that has erupted following hurricanes Maria and Irma.
The House is on track to back Trump’s request for billions more in disaster aid, $16bn to pay flood insurance claims and emergency funding to help the cash-strapped government of Puerto Rico stay afloat. Sufficient aid has yet to reach many people in Puerto Rico, three weeks after much of the island was devastated by Hurricane Maria. More than 80% of the island is without electricity and nearly half of all people are still cut off from communication.
Thursday’s hurricane aid package totals $36.5bn and follows a $15.3bn measure that passed last month. The measure sticks close to the White House request, ignoring – for now – huge demands from the powerful Florida and Texas delegations, who together pressed for some $40bn more. The water situation has become particularly dire, with the state department estimating that about a third of Puerto Ricans are without potable water. This has led to some people attempting to access wells that have been sealed due to toxic pollution, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Several lawmakers from hurricane-hit states said a third interim aid request is expected shortly – with a final, huge hurricane recovery and rebuilding package likely to be acted upon by the end of the year. On Wednesday, the EPA said it has “reports of residents obtaining, or trying to obtain, drinking water from wells at hazardous waste superfund sites in Puerto Rico”. Superfund sites are heavily polluted areas that have been designated for federal cleanup.
Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico on 20 September. It has killed at least 45 people, and about 85% of residents still lack electricity. The environmental regulator said it was working with Fema to get drinking wells functioning and urged people to not tamper with locked wells or drink their contents. The EPA added that Puerto Ricans should not use water from rivers or streams for drinking or bathing without boiling it first because “raw sewage continues to be released into waterways and is expected to continue until repairs can be made and power is restored.”
Trump has come under fire for a patronising and callous attitude to the island, and got into a high-profile spat with the capital’s mayor, Carmen Yulín Cruz.