Trump seems to be implying Puerto Ricans are causing hurricanes to spite him: CNN reporter

On Tuesday's edition of CNN's "The Situation Room," correspondent Abby Phillip analyzed President Donald Trump's contempt for disaster victims in Puerto Rico.

"The president, as you know, has been tweeting about Puerto Rico, as a powerful new storm threatens to strike as soon as tomorrow," said anchor Wolf Blitzer. "This is what the president tweeted. He said, 'Wow! Yet another big storm heading to Puerto Rico. Will it ever end? Congress approved 92 Billion Dollars for Puerto Rico last year, an all time record of its kind for 'anywhere.'" That number is misleading for many reasons, but he cited the $92 billion figure when talking about Puerto Rico. Is he signaling he may not be willing to provide more aid if necessary to the American citizens on Puerto Rico?"

"It does very much raise that question," said Phillip. "I have to think back to when President Obama handed off the reins to President Trump, and you have to imagine that in those conversations the fact that there are natural disasters that the president has to deal with is one of the things that he would have been told going into this job. You don't get to control that part of the job. It doesn't ever stop. Mother Nature doesn't ever stop."

"President Trump seems to be in some ways implying that the Puerto Rican people are bringing this upon themselves or that they are — the source of some kind of headache for him by potentially, in the future, requiring more disaster relief funds," continued Phillip. "But that is just a part of the job. And you're right, Wolf, the number the president used in that tweet is not accurate. It is an estimate — a guess about what they might need in the future. Only $20 million has been allocated as of right now for that island, that was basically devastated by multiple hurricanes in a row."

"So these are people in desperate need. These are American citizens," added Phillip. "And President Trump seems to continue to be unwilling or hesitant to help them in their time of need and a lot of that has to do with his political disputes with people on the island. Political leaders on the island."

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