Tag: Trump response to Puerto Rico

Poll: Only a Third Approves of Trump’s Puerto Rico Response

The following article by Griffin Connolly was posted on the Roll Call website October 4, 2017:

Nearly half the country disapproves of president’s handling of hurricane disaster on the island

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive at the Muniz Air National Guard Base in Puerto Rico on Tuesday. A new poll shows that nearly half of Americans surveyed disapprove of the president’s response to Hurricane Maria. Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

President Donald Trump has not scored political points for his response to the disaster wrought on the U.S. island of Puerto Rico by Hurricane Maria a new poll shows.

Nearly half of all respondents to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll disapproved of the job the president is doing there.

Less than a third — just 32 percent — approved of Trump’s leadership in the federal relief effort.

“It took him how long to get to Puerto Rico?” Bree Harris, a 25-year-old chef and Democrat from Los Angeles, told the AP. She believes the president “didn’t even know that Puerto Rico was an island that was part of America. It’s embarrassing.” Continue reading “Poll: Only a Third Approves of Trump’s Puerto Rico Response”

No, Mr. President — The Puerto Rico Crisis Is Not About You

The following article by Gene Lyons was posted on the National Memo website October 3, 2017:

Credit: Weather.com

When the going gets tough, the tough go golfing.

Doubtless in years to come, every home in Puerto Rico will proudly display replicas of the golfing trophy President Trump dedicated to the brave citizens of the beleaguered island to memorialize Hurricane Maria.

Unless I miss my guess, donaldjtrump.com will soon be peddling them along with Make America Great Again T-shirts, ball caps, coffee mugs and engraved medals featuring the great man’s likeness. Continue reading “No, Mr. President — The Puerto Rico Crisis Is Not About You”

‘Incredible.’ ‘Great.’ ‘Unbelievable.’ In storm-torn Puerto Rico, Trump focuses on the positive

The following article by Jenna Johnson and Ashley Parker was posted on the Washington Post website October 3, 2017:

During a visit to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico on Oct. 3, President Trump told Puerto Rican officials they should be “very proud” that hundreds didn’t die like in a “real catastrophe like Katrina.” (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)

President Trump arrived in Puerto Rico on Tuesday as the territory struggled to recover from Hurricane Maria, which has left nearly all the island without power and most residents without ­water nearly two weeks later.

But Trump’s focus was on the “unbelievable” and “incredible” job that his administration has done so far. He repeatedly played down the destruction to the island, telling local officials they should feel “very proud” they ­haven’t lost hundreds of lives like in “a real catastrophe” like Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast in 2005. But he also complained that the small territory’s disaster threw the nation’s budget “a little out of whack.” Continue reading “‘Incredible.’ ‘Great.’ ‘Unbelievable.’ In storm-torn Puerto Rico, Trump focuses on the positive”