Trump doubles down on Puerto Rico response defense, calls San Juan mayor 'incompetent'

(Image credit: Mandel Ngan)

published 12 September 2018

As Hurricane Florence barreled toward the East Coast on Wednesday, President Trump continued to tout his administration's response to last year's Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

In a tweet, Trump said that the government did an "unappreciated great job" in response to Hurricane Maria in spite of Puerto Rico being an "inaccessible island with very poor electricity." He also took aim at San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, calling her "totally incompetent."

A study found that nearly 3,000 people died as a result of the hurricane, up from the original estimate of 64, CNN reports. FEMA also has admitted it was ill-prepared for the storm. Trump had said last fall that Maria wasn't a "real catastrophe" like Hurricane Katrina. But Maria's updated death toll is much higher than the roughly 1 ,800 people who died during Katrina. Cruz on Tuesday joined others in criticizing the president, writing on Twitter, "If he thinks the death of 3,000 people [is] a success God help us all."

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Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.

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