7:16
- ABC News
- September 29, 2017
Puerto Rico recovery 'is not satisfactory'
Duke appeared to change her tune after criticism.
...The fact is that Puerto Rico has been destroyed by two hurricanes. Big decisions will have to be made as to the cost of its rebuilding!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 29, 2017
In an interview on CNN this morning, the president's homeland security adviser, Tom Bossert, said Trump's tweets were \"1000 percent right\" that the federal government will have to look at how to handle rebuilding costs considering that the territory has $72 billion of debt.
\"With them being in debt, they don't have enough ready liquid cash to pay their normal share,\" Bossert told CNN. \"What we'll do -- and the president has already done it -- give a 180-day cost-share adjustment, and the federal government is making sure lives are protected. We’ll worry about the big decisions later; that's the president's point.\"
Bossert added, “The president is already doing what it takes. What he’s doing is what every good leader does is looking on the horizon for decisions that will come over the next three, four weeks and the next three, four months.\"
Trump continued to criticize Puerto's Rico's finances in a speech this afternoon addressing the National Association of Manufacturers in Washington, D.C.
\"We're literally starting from scratch,\" the president said, adding that \"virtually everything has been wiped out\" by Hurricane Maria.
\"Ultimately, the government of Puerto Rico will have to work with us to determine how this massive rebuilding effort -- [which] will end up being one of the biggest ever -- will be funded and organized and what we will do with the tremendous amount of existing debt already on the island,\" he said.
Maria made landfall as a major Category 4 hurricane in Puerto Rico on Sept. 20, killing at least 16 people, knocking out power and devastating the island's agriculture. Residents at the time were still recovering from the powerful Hurricane Irma two weeks earlier that had unleashed heavy rain and high winds.
Trump announced Tuesday he will make his first visit to Puerto Rico next week after critics -- both Democrats and Republicans -- accused his administration of a lackluster response to the catastrophic damage left by Maria.
Meanwhile, more than 9,000 cargo containers filled with necessary supplies have arrived at a port in San Juan but have yet to be distributed to those in need.
\"The whole supply chain of distribution has been interrupted,\" Jose Ayala, vice president of Crowley Puerto Rico Services, told ABC News. \"We need to restore the electricity power, we need to restore our roads, we need to restore communications, we need to start moving the diesel around the island.\"
The Federal Emergency Management Agency told ABC News that any aid it has delivered to Puerto Rico has been immediately distributed.
\"There's not a single trailer from FEMA or from response operations that are being held,\" said Alex de la Campa, the agency's Caribbean-area division director.
At a press conference this morning, Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello announced his government will buy cargo containers from private companies if necessary to make sure goods are distributed. He said he will not allow food, water and medical supplies to remain stuck at ports due to a \"lack of execution.\"
ABC News' Joshua Hoyos, Adam Kelsey, Mariam Khan and Alex Perez contributed to this report.
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