Donald Trump wrote in a tweet he’s “the best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico.” Perhaps he believes that. Few others apparently do. Trump seems to have an obsession with the U.S. territory. And in the last 24 hours, it has boiled over yet again. In a new tweet storm, Trump took aim at the country hit so hard by Hurricane Maria. Here’s just part of what he said:
Puerto Rico got 91 Billion Dollars for the hurricane, more money than has ever been gotten for a hurricane before, & all their local politicians do is complain & ask for more money. The pols are grossly incompetent, spend the money foolishly or corruptly, & only take from .
The best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico is President Donald J. Trump. So many wonderful people, but with such bad Island leadership and with so much money wasted. Cannot continue to hurt our Farmers and States with these massive payments, and so little appreciation!
There are so many things to dissect with those tweets. The $91 billion is an estimate for federal disaster relief in Puerto Rico over the next 20 years. And “only take from USA?” There are three million Americans who live in Puerto Rico. It is a U.S. territory. Trump seems to think Puerto Rico is some foreign land.
How did this all start? Trump had demanded that Senate Democrats support a bill that would send $13 billion to cover several natural disasters but Democrats and some Republicans didn’t think it was enough and two pieces of legislation were defeated. Then came the Trump tweet storm.
Puerto Rico native and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda usually keeps his Twitter feed non-political, but every now and then Trump sets him off. That was the case today.
This isn’t the first time Miranda has criticized Trump, shortly after Hurricane Maria he wrote, “You’re going straight to hell, @realDonaldTrump.”
And the Mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz, a punching bag for the president, is also responding.
And the Governor of Puerto Rico, who has a more cordial relationship with Trump also weighed in…
Call it “misinformation,” “vindictive,” “hypocritical,” or any of the other responses people have had to these tweets, but The Washington Post puts it best, “Nearly everything Trump just said about Puerto Rico is wrong.”