Lashing out at the mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, President Donald Trump went on Twitter Saturday morning to rebuff her complaints about the federal response to Hurricane Maria, accusing Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz of "poor leadership," and saying that Democrats and the news media were doing all they can to "get Trump."
"The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump," the President said, as the mayor has repeatedly gone on television and questioned U.S. disaster relief efforts on the island, saying the aid was not reaching people in need fast enough.
"Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help," the President tweeted from his golf retreat in Bedminster, New Jersey, complaining that Puerto Rico officials "want everything to be done for them."
The President also accused the news media of doing all it could to skew the story of the Puerto Rico relief effort, as Mr. Trump said relief workers were doing an "amazing job."
Unlike a week ago, when the President spent much of his weekend tweeting about whether players in the NFL and other major sports should stand for the National Anthem, Mr. Trump's schedule for this Saturday had a series of calls related to the Maria response.
That was quickly noted by Democrats, who criticized the tenor of Mr. Trump's Saturday morning jabs.
"You're at the same golf club now that you were at last weekend picking a fight with athletes while a humanitarian crisis grew in Puerto Rico," said Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA).
"3.4 million Americans faced devastation without power or water while you tweeted about sports from your golf club," Beyer added.
"What an absolute disgrace," said Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) of the President. "His callousness towards our fellow citizens is off the charts."
Several times during the week, the President had alluded to the difficulty of getting aid to Puerto Rico, even as he defended his administration's response.
"This is an island, surrounded by water, big water, ocean water," Mr. Trump said Friday in a speech to the National Association of Manufacturers.
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