President Trump said Wednesday his administration did a “fantastic job” in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria last year and said the situation was made worse by Puerto Rico’s decrepit power grid, a day after officials on the U.S. commonwealth raised the death toll caused by the deadly storm to 2,975.
“I think we did a fantastic job. We have put billions of dollars into Puerto Rico,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Don’t forget their electric plant was dead before the Hurricane … and when the hurricane came, people said, ‘What’re we going to do about electricity?'”
Puerto Rico counted 64 deaths in the immediate aftermath of the storm, then stopped counting and commissioned a study with George Washington University to reach a final conclusion on the number of people killed during the storm, or in the months that followed due to storm-related damage.
Trump claimed that most Puerto Ricans “really appreciate what we’ve done” and realize how hard FEMA officials have worked to rebuild the country’s infrastructure in the year since Hurricane Maria swept through island.
“Puerto Rico had a lot of difficulties even before they were hit and we’re straightening those out now,” he said.
The president’s comments come as his administration faces criticism for downplaying the impact the Category 5 storm had on Puerto Rico and allegedly failing to provide adequate relief funding and aid.
“The administration killed the Puerto Ricans with neglect,” San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, who publicly tussled with Trump after the hurricane hit last September, told CNN earlier Wednesday. “The Trump administration led us to believe they were helping when they weren’t up to par, and they didn’t allow other countries to help us.”
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement late Tuesday the administration would continue to support Puerto Rico “for years to come” as the island works to rebuild and repair its communities.
