San Juan mayor: Trump is taking his anger out on Puerto Rico

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz accused President Trump of “taking all of his anger out on Puerto Rico” after he tweeted a warning to the island on Thursday that federal hurricane relief efforts would not continue “forever.”

Asked on CNN Thursday night whether she believed Trump has handled the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico differently than he handled hurricanes in states, like Florida and Texas, Cruz said that the president “most definitely” had.

“He’s treating Puerto Rico different than the U.S. treated Haiti,” Cruz said. “For some reason, he’s taking all of his anger out on Puerto Rico.”

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“There’s a big disconnect between the big heart of the volunteers and the people that are here working on the ground and, frankly, the big mouth of the president of the United States that continues to add insult to injury,” she added.

Trump has engaged in somewhat of a public feud with Cruz. In a tweet late last month, the president accused the mayor of Puerto Rico’s capital of “poor leadership,” and said that she and “others in Puerto Rico” were relying too heavily on the federal government for emergency assistance and should do more to help themselves.

He also warned in a tweet on Thursday morning that he would not keep federal emergency workers in Puerto Rico indefinitely and suggested that the island shared part of the blame for slow relief efforts.

Cruz has dismissed Trump’s comments as an excuse for his administration’s slow-to-start response to the humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico that followed Hurricane Maria. On Thursday, she ripped Trump’s Twitter habits, calling him a “hater-in-chief.”

“Rather than being a commander-in-chief, he’s like a hater-in-chief,” she said. “He continues to tweet his hate all over the place, and rather than offering comforting words — hey, if you can’t be a president, be an executive. Make sure that all ducks are straight in a row and that you are getting things done.”

Trump tweeted a reassurance to Puerto Rico’s 3.4 million residents on Friday that he “will always be with them,” despite his Thursday warning.

But he also said that Puerto Ricans were aware of “how bad things were before” hurricanes Maria and Irma struck the island last month, echoing previous suggestions that the island’s poor infrastructure was in part responsible for the damage Puerto Rico sustained. 

“The wonderful people of Puerto Rico, with their unmatched spirit, know how bad things were before the [hurricanes]. I will always be with them!” Trump wrote.