Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló is fed up with President Trump’s disparagement of the island following reports that Trump complained to Senate Republicans on Tuesday about the amount of disaster relief funding that went to Puerto Rico after it was devastated by Hurricane Maria last year.
“The comments attributed to Donald Trump today by senators from his own party are below the dignity of a sitting President of the United States. They continue to lack empathy, are irresponsible, regrettable and, above all, unjustified,” Rosselló said in a statement released Tuesday. “Enough with the insults and demeaning mischaracterizations. We are not your political adversaries; we are your citizens.”
Rosselló suggested that perhaps Trump got “misleading information from his own staff” about the funds the island has received and the state of its recovery process. He invited Trump to visit the territory — where nearly 3,000 people died as a result of the catastrophic storm — and “put all of the resources at his disposal to help Americans in Puerto Rico, like he did for Texas and Alabama. No more, no less.”
During a meeting with Senate Republicans on Tuesday, Trump reportedly whined about how much aid Puerto Rico had received and said the island could be bought “four times over for $91 billion.”
