Description

President Donald Trump is pledging to help Puerto Rico continue to recover from Hurricane Maria’s devastation. He is defending his administration’s handling of the disaster that knocked out power to the U.S. island’s 3.4 million people.In an airport hangar in Puerto Rico, Trump also sought praise from local officials. He repeated that they have to help with the recovery and scolded them for a longstanding budget crisis. Trump said, “I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico but you’ve thrown our budget a little out of whack because we’ve spent a lot of money on Puerto Rico.”He was referring to Puerto $74 billion public debt load and a decade-old economic recession.Puerto Ricans who have called Washington's work on the island insufficient "have to give us more help," he said before leaving Washington, without explaining how they have come up short in his eyes.Air Force One brought the president, first lady Melania Trump and aides to Puerto Rico in late morning. They were expected to spend more than five hours on the ground, meeting first responders, local officials and some of the 3.4 million people whose lives have been upended by a hurricane that, in the president's words, left the island U.S. territory "flattened."The plane descended over a landscape marked by mangled palm trees, metal debris strewn near homes and patches of stripped trees, yet with less devastation evident than farther from San Juan.

Tags

Florida hurricane maria Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz melania trump Puerto Rico San Juan Texas Trump