President Donald Trump’s latest tweets regarding recovery efforts in Puerto Rico were a direct response to remarks made by San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz criticizing Trump’s response to Hurricane Maria, a GOP source familiar with internal discussions said.
Yulin Cruz and Trump have clashed throughout the recovery process, including yesterday when she was quoted by Public Radio International as saying “I don’t give a s—” about Trump’s comments about her.
The President also labeled Yulin Cruz “nasty” in a tweet shortly after the storm hit.
Thursday morning, Trump tweeted, “We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P. R. forever!”
Not long after, Yulin Cruz responded via Twitter: “@POTUS It is not that you do not get it; you are incapable of fulfilling the moral imperative to help the people of PR. Shame on you.!”
Despite the back and forth, the source echoed White House assurances from press secretary Sarah Sanders that the Trump administration is fully committed to Puerto Rico’s recovery from Maria.
White House chief of staff John Kelly also touched on Puerto Rico at a press conference Thursday, saying Trump’s tweet was “exactly accurate,” considering they would not be there forever.
“The minute you go anywhere as a first responder, and this would apply certainly to the military, you will try really hard to work yourself out of a job,” Kelly said Thursday at the White House. “There will be a period in which we hope sooner rather than later, the US military and FEMA, generally speaking can withdraw because then the government and people of Puerto Rico are recovering sufficiently to start the process of rebuilding.
