{"id":44773,"date":"2017-09-27T04:50:19","date_gmt":"2017-09-27T04:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=44773"},"modified":"2017-09-27T04:50:19","modified_gmt":"2017-09-27T04:50:19","slug":"trump-rates-his-hurricane-relief-great-amazing-tremendous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/politics\/trump-rates-his-hurricane-relief-great-amazing-tremendous.html","title":{"rendered":"Trump Rates His Hurricane Relief: ‘Great.’ ‘Amazing.’ ‘Tremendous.’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Trump Rates His Hurricane Relief: ‘Great.’ ‘Amazing.’ ‘Tremendous.’<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Trump Rates His Hurricane Relief: ‘Great.’ ‘Amazing.’ ‘Tremendous.’:- President Trump has a ready answer for anyone who questions his administration\u2019s response to the hurricanes that laid waste to Texas, Florida, the United States Virgin Islands and now Puerto Rico.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are doing a great job,\u201d he declared on Tuesday in the Rose Garden. \u201cWe did a great job in Texas, a great job in Florida, a great job in Louisiana. We hit little pieces of Georgia and Alabama. And frankly,\u201d he added, \u201cwe\u2019re doing \u2014 \u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Then he stopped himself to gild the lily even further.<\/span><\/p>\n

Puerto Rico, Mr. Trump pointed out, posed a special challenge to disaster relief efforts. \u201cIt\u2019s on an island in the middle of the ocean,\u201d he observed to a reporter who asked him whether he had been too consumed by his feud with the National Football League to give it proper attention. \u201cYou can\u2019t just drive your trucks there from other states.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite those hurdles, he said, the territory\u2019s governor, Ricardo A. Rossell\u00f3, told him: \u201cThe entire federal work force is doing great work in Puerto Rico. And I appreciated his saying it. And he\u2019s saying it to anybody that will listen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

So is Mr. Trump.<\/span><\/p>\n

At his joint news conference with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain, the president patted himself on the back no fewer than a dozen times about the competence of his administration\u2019s relief effort. \u201cAmazing,\u201d \u201ctremendous,\u201d \u201cincredible,\u201d \u201creally good\u201d \u2014 those were the kudos Mr. Trump chose to describe the performance of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other government agencies, although in some cases he was repeating what he had been told by local officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been really treated very, very nicely by the governor,\u201d Mr. Trump said of Mr. Rossell\u00f3, whose island is without power, water or fuel \u2014 putting it, the governor said on Monday, on the brink of a humanitarian crisis.<\/span><\/p>\n

The busy hurricane season of 2017 has given fresh purpose to a president who, until now, made most of his own weather inside the West Wing. On Tuesday, he said he would visit Puerto Rico and the storm-ravaged Virgin Islands next week. The White House issued photos of a grave-looking Mr. Trump being briefed in the Situation Room.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the hurricanes are yet another reminder of this president\u2019s rare capacity for self-congratulation \u2014 a trait that seems particularly ill-suited to the aftermath of deadly disasters, when the plight of people who lost homes or even family members would seem to take precedence over testimonials to FEMA.<\/span><\/p>\n

From the start, Mr. Trump has had trouble separating himself from the story. On his first visit to Texas after Hurricane Harvey swamped Houston, the president went to a firehouse in Corpus Christi, nearly 220 miles away, for a briefing with federal, state and local officials that stopped just short of being a pep rally. \u201cWe\u2019ll congratulate each other when it\u2019s all finished,\u201d he told the group.<\/span><\/p>\n

Outside, he greeted a crowd of about 1,000 who had gathered by saying, \u201cWhat a crowd! What a turnout!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Four days later, Mr. Trump returned to the state \u2014 this time, to meet actual victims of the storm. He handed out cardboard boxes with hot dogs and potato chips to residents in Houston, and talked about the love he had seen in the NRG Center, a convention center converted into a shelter for nearly 1,200 people. But he could not resist a victory lap.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re really happy with what\u2019s going on,\u201d he told reporters traveling with him. \u201cIt\u2019s something that\u2019s been very well received. Even by you guys, it\u2019s been very well received.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In Florida, after Hurricane Irma roared up the Gulf Coast, Mr. Trump seemed more at ease in his role as a consoler. At a ruined mobile home park in Naples, he handed out encouragement along with hoagies. But when one man yelled, \u201cWhere was Obama during the last hurricane? On a golf course,\u201d Mr. Trump stopped and asked whether he had voted for him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBest vote of your life?\u201d the president said, with a grin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Puerto Rico, unlike Texas and Florida, is not Trump country. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida trounced him in the Republican primary there in March 2016. And Mr. Trump has been noticeably less vocal about the damage from Hurricane Maria. Over the weekend, as Puerto Ricans ran perilously low on food, water and fuel, he posted nothing about the crisis.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet he posted 17 tweets about sports \u2014 from the dispute he single-handedly revived over the N.F.L. and the national anthem to his withdrawal of an invitation for Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors to visit the White House. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump denied that he had neglected Puerto Rico in favor of his feud with professional athletes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard that before: \u2018Was I preoccupied?\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cNot at all, not at all. I have plenty of time on my hands. All I do is work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Some residents of the Virgin Islands, parts of which were leveled by Irma, feel similarly overlooked by Washington. Kenneth E. Mapp, the governor, assured them that Mr. Trump had told him he \u201cloves the Virgin Islands.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When the president finally did get around to addressing Puerto Rico, on Monday, he led off with some unsympathetic observations about the territory\u2019s well-publicized fiscal problems.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTexas & Florida are doing great but Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble,\u201d he said in a series of tweets. \u201cIt\u2019s old electrical grid, which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the Island was destroyed, with billions of dollars owed to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with. Food, water and medical are top priorities \u2013 and doing well.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Mr. Trump said he had deployed Navy ships to Puerto Rico. His homeland security adviser, Thomas P. Bossert, and the FEMA administrator, Brock Long, traveled there to meet with officials. But even then, Mr. Trump said less about the resilience of the people than about the territory\u2019s problems. The federal government, he said, had to take over some security because police officers, having lost their homes, had gone off duty.<\/span><\/p>\n

After his news conference, Mr. Trump tweeted, \u201cAmerica\u2019s hearts & prayers are with the people of #PuertoRico & the #USVI. We will get through this \u2014 and we will get through this TOGETHER!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

To the extent that Mr. Trump lauded Puerto Rican officials, however, it was for their praise and gratitude for his administration\u2019s efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have had tremendous reviews from government officials, as we have in Texas and Louisiana, and as we have in Florida,\u201d Mr. Trump said, singling out Greg Abbott of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida as \u201cgreat governors.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For a moment, it looked like he would pay a similar tribute to the governor of Puerto Rico, Mr. Rossell\u00f3.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe governor has been so incredible in his,\u201d Mr. Trump said, pausing a beat, \u201cin his statements about the job we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/09\/26\/us\/politics\/trump-puerto-rico-hurricane.html<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t <\/div><\/div>\n\t\t