Just when you think Donald Trump could not make more plain how much he doesn’t care about Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, which hit 3 weeks ago, he threatened to pull aid from the island territory in a Thursday morning tweet spasm.
SEE ALSO: The 5 most inappropriate things Donald Trump said at a Puerto Rico disaster briefing
In a trio of tweets, Trump implied there’s a limit to how much he’s willing to spend on aid for the U.S. territory while taking an opportunity to still lob a couple of insults at the island because, I don’t know, that’s what leaders do, I guess?
“Puerto Rico survived the Hurricanes, now a financial crisis looms largely of their own making.” says Sharyl Attkisson. A total lack of…..
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— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017
…accountability say the Governor. Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes. Congress to decide how much to spend….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017
…We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017
The idea of an American president limiting the amount of aid to a U.S. territory and then turning his back to say, “You’re on your own,” is, like so much of this Trump presidency, unfathomable. Like thinking that throwing paper towels at a crowd of hurricane victims is good relief.
And, yet, here we are.
The attack comes as Congress weighs a White House request for an additional $5 billion in loans for Puerto Rico, to address the island’s liquidity crisis. It seems Trump sees a finite limit to what he’s willing to spend, another sign that perhaps Trump doesn’t understand Puerto Ricans are American citizens.
In late August, FEMA director Brock Long told CNN that the agency would be in Texas “for years” to help the area recover from Hurricane Harvey.
It seems Puerto Rico will not get the same courtesy, even though a humanitarian crisis continues to spiral. More than 80 percent of the island is still without power and food and water remains scarce.
The situation is so dire, the U.S. felt compelled to issue a warning to Puerto Ricans telling them not to drink water from “industrial waste sites” after reports that some residents were doing so in the face of severe water shortages.
EPA says people are drinking water from toxic waste sites, 1 million+ still don’t have clean water.
You want to pull out? No. Unacceptable. https://t.co/kdrinY4Ky3
— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) October 12, 2017
And the crisis is particularly particularly bad in regards to health care for the week and infirm as food, necessary medications, and proper care are wholly unavailable.
Even more galling: The president’s threat comes weeks after his promise to stay in Texas and Louisiana as long as it takes to help them recover from Harvey.
Texas & Louisiana: We are w/ you today, we are w/ you tomorrow, & we will be w/ you EVERY SINGLE DAY AFTER, to restore, recover, & REBUILD! pic.twitter.com/YQb82K2VSB
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 30, 2017
As the president’s ridonkulous tweets reverberated around the country, the reaction was swift and critical, starting with Sen. Chuck Schumer.
FEMA needs to stay until the job is done and right now, it’s not even close to done.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) October 12, 2017
Why do you continue to treat Puerto Ricans differently than other Americans when it comes to natural disasters?
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) October 12, 2017
Trump is actually mad at Puerto Rico for how much it’s suffering after the hurricane… because it makes him look bad.
— John SCAREavosis (@aravosis) October 12, 2017
It is almost as if Trump thinks Puerto Rico deserves this
— Dani Bostick (@danibostick) October 12, 2017
So as Puerto Ricans sit, dying in the dark, Trump continues to tweet his dismay about having to deal with the island at all, as well as things like NFL anthem protests and insults about Bob Corker’s height.
It’s not exactly Nero fiddling while Rome burned, but it’s not very far off, either.
