SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — President Donald Trump is slamming mayor Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, of San Juan, for “poor leadership” just one day after the mayor criticized a Trump administration official’s positive assessment of the devastation caused by hurricane Maria on the island.
That official, Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke, called the situation in Puerto Rico, “a good news story.”
The mayor lashed back by saying, “Maybe from where she’s standing, it’s a good news story. When you are drinking from a creek, it’s not a good news story.”
Today, the president is saying that “they” (meaning either officials or residents of Puerto Rico) are not doing enough themselves to recover from the crisis left by Hurricane Maria, and that “they want everything to be done for them.”
A few days ago, the mayor had a “message” for Trump, asking him to “step up” relief efforts for the “entire island of Puerto Rico,” not just the capital of San Juan.
“Thank you for calling San Juan yesterday and listening for our mayday call.” she said in a press conference.
“There are 77 other towns that are waiting anxiously and will be very grateful to you and to the American people if you continue to step up to the moral imperative that you have taken on all over the world to help those in need. So help us,” Cruz said.
In a series of tweets on Saturday morning, the president said that the mayor of the stricken U.S. territory must have been influenced by Democrats to change her attitude towards him, because she was “very complimentary” just a few days ago.
President Trump also used Twitter to take a moment and praise restoration efforts taking place on the devastated island.
While this series of tweets were reportedly sent from Trump’s golf club over the weekend, reports say that more than 10,000 federal officials are working to clean up and restore Puerto Rico.
Following Trump’s tweets this morning, a senior White House official was asked whether the president will meet with Cruz when he visits the U.S. territory on Tuesday.
The White House official said, “Not sure,”
