Trump rants he's given $91 billion to Puerto Rico -- but FEMA disagrees
Donald Trump throws rolls of paper towels to survivors of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico (Screen capture)
April 01, 2019
President Donald Trump ranted about Puerto Rico and complaints that he hasn't funded hurricane relief for the U.S. territory to the degree that it was necessary.
According to Trump, he's spent $91 billion on Puerto Rico and they've scored significantly more than other states, like Texas and Florida. It's not only a lie, but Trump's own government also refutes the facts.
"The Democrats today killed a Bill that would have provided great relief to Farmers and yet more money to Puerto Rico despite the fact that Puerto Rico has already been scheduled to receive more hurricane relief funding than any 'place' in history," Trump tweeted Monday night. "The people of Puerto Rico are GREAT, but the politicians are incompetent or corrupt. Puerto Rico got far more money than Texas & Florida combined, yet their government can’t do anything right, the place is a mess - nothing works. FEMA & the Military worked emergency miracles, but politicians like the crazed and incompetent Mayor of San Juan have done such a poor job of bringing the Island back to health. 91 Billion Dollars to Puerto Rico, and now the Dems want to give them more, taking dollars away from our Farmers and so many others. Disgraceful!"
FEMA submitted a full report on how much has been given to Puerto Rico, putting the number closer to $3 billion. According to a Congressional aide in 2017, the island will likely need $30 billion to fully recover.
Trump's comment is close to what he told Republicans in a closed-door meeting last week. He claimed that Puerto Rico, which was hit by two hurricanes back to back, got more money than Texas and Florida.
An extensive study outlined how much more the continental U.S. states scored more than the island. Trump doesn't even agree that 3,000 people were killed in Puerto Rico due to the hurricanes.