Trump cares more about NFL football than Puerto Rico

Trump addresses criticism over Puerto Rico disaster response: 'It's out in the ocean — you can't just drive your trucks there'
Gonna be quick because I posted this too early. Trump started out by defending his lackluster response to helping PR by declaring there is an ocean between us and the island.

"This isn't like Florida where we can go up the spine. This isn't like Texas where we go right down the middle and we distribute," Trump said. "This is a thing called the Atlantic Ocean. This is tough stuff."

No #. Of course. That means you need to prepare more thoroughly. We had plenty of time to get ready, but Trump cares more about tweeting about the NFL than helping these people.

Trump defends response to devastation in Puerto Rico, promises visit
Trump had to be coerced into visiting the island after mounting concerns of his lack of care.

Naftali said that in his re­sponses to Harvey and Irma, Trump and his team seemed to have learned the lessons of Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 storm that stained the presidency of George W. Bush after his detached response.

“Trump wanted the message to be loud and clear: ‘We care,’ ” Naftali said. “That attention has been sorely lacking in the case of Hurricane Maria.”

Those questioning Trump’s interest in helping Puerto Rico have included an array of Democratic politicians, such as his vanquished presidential rival Hillary Clinton, and numerous celebrities such as pop singer Marc Anthony.

“Do something about our people in need in #PuertoRico,” Anthony, whose parents are from Puerto Rico, wrote in a tweet this week. “We are American citizens too.”

Keep in mind that he was ECSTATIC about helping Florida and Texas.
It’s not complicated: Trump is more interested in NFL protests than the storm in Puerto Rico

Watching Hurricane closely. My team, which has done, and is doing, such a good job in Texas, is already in Florida. No rest for the weary!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 6, 2017

Trump clearly relished his ability to act as CEO of emergency management. Americans generally agreed: Post-ABC polling released on Sunday indicates Trump’s handling of the storms in Texas and Florida was viewed positively — a rarity for an historically unpopular president.

What’s gone mostly unmentioned by the president, though, is Hurricane Maria, which stripped huge swaths of the island of Puerto Rico of resources, power and vegetation. Washington Post reporters have documented the plight of the island, with people desperate for aid not finding much.

And he is trying to say it isn't his fault for not helping

“Texas and Florida are doing great,” he wrote, “but Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure and massive debt, is in deep trouble. Its old electrical grid, which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the Island was destroyed, with billions of dollars owed to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with. Food, water and medical are top priorities — and doing well.”

The message Trump is trying to convey with those tweets (which we cleaned up a bit for legibility) is pretty clear: If Puerto Rico is going badly, it’s not my fault. Why the territory’s debt was worth mentioning is hard too understand outside of the context of Trump portraying it as a place that is responsible for its own problems.

Clearly Trump doesn't care about Puerto Rico as much as Texas or Florida. I'm not going to make the racism angle, but man... Talking about football instead was STUPID.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Trump had to be coerced into visiting the island after mounting concerns of his lack of care.

Trump does't get coerced into anything...he does what he thinks is right when he wants regardless of public opinion. It's one of the things that makes him a good President.

Yep, Trump, the football players and the left. They all care more about this same stupid football anthem thing than Puerto Rico. The leftists are only bringing it up as a talking point in their political bickering.

Star and flag. He should just stay out of the NFL and worry about real problems. especially now what damage he could do to the NFL he has done.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

All I can say to you for starting this bullspit is, "You Have Got to Be Kidding!" You DT haters are just plain nuts, imo!

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Yawn, got anything new that hasn't been posted already?

Hmm, from what I've read they are going to help.

USNews

You act like every politician has been spending 24/7 worrying and talking about Puerto Rico and Trump is the only one that has the audacity to talk about other things right now. They're working on helping them obviously. Your source is just sensationalized to the highest order.

a reply to: Metallicus

So visiting PR a week+ after the disaster is a good move on his part, in your opinion?

a reply to: pirhanna

The liberals are the ones who got him back on task with providing aid to PR.

originally posted by: queenofswords
a reply to: Krazysh0t

All I can say to you for starting this bullspit is, "You Have Got to Be Kidding!" You DT haters are just plain nuts, imo!

I wish I were kidding, but Trump made a big deal on Friday about some stupid issue with the NFL instead of addressing something far more important. His reaction continued into this week and it wasn't until yesterday that he decided that merely visiting the island was a good idea. If it weren't for people constantly harping on his mismatch in response to Florida and Texas versus PR then I wouldn't need this thread, but Trump clearly cared for people in states that voted for him versus a territory that he probably didn't even know was a part of the US.

originally posted by: thesaneone
a reply to: Krazysh0t

Yawn, got anything new that hasn't been posted already?

Strangely. It wasn't posted already. So nice try.

a reply to: Krazysh0t

What a load of crap!

wgntv.com...
well, he's decided to send the USS Comfort...
after hillary suggested it

he does have a point, the fact that it's an island is going to make things much more difficult..
but, I do hope that a week isn't the usual time it takes to get the comfort ready to be deployed anywhere...

I have also heard that there is a long line of people trying to get off the island, and planes heading out with empty seats because of there being no computers....
umm... at this point, wouldn't it be better to just fill up the planes and get them out and worry about the rest later?

Respectfully, this thread is STUPID.

Look liberal, action doesn't began or end when the President tweets. Big brother is always moving and never stops working.

Long before newspapers began printing these kinds of stories, aid was being prepped for delivery. After all, with two recent hurricanes, aid would be available.

As for his tweet, and? This is what I've come to expect, he is simply being real. PR is in bad shape, long before those hurricanes. So now, the terrible infrastructure PLUS the hurricane is a recipe for total destruction. Access routes gone, no way in and out, massive flood zones. During our floods, infrastructure was intact and available to easily direct aid and rescue.

Here, its a lot more tough, but nevertheless, it IS being worked on. As for his tweets on it being far away, he is also damned right and still being a realist, IT IS FAR and it takes time to get it there.

originally posted by: Middleoftheroad
Hmm, from what I've read they are going to help.

USNews

You act like every politician has been spending 24/7 worrying and talking about Puerto Rico and Trump is the only one that has the audacity to talk about other things right now. They're working on helping them obviously. Your source is just sensationalized to the highest order.

I posted several sources, but here is one more that shows how Trump could have been prepared to help Puerto Rico before the storm even hit.
The ‘very big ocean’ between here and Puerto Rico is not a perfect excuse for a lack of aid

So couldn’t the government have either sent supplies in advance (as it did for Texas and Florida by truck) or sent cargo after the fact that could have gotten to Puerto Rico by now?

The answer is yes and yes.

To the second question first. The ship-tracking site MarineTraffic.com provided The Washington Post with data on two ships that left the continental United States after Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico and which either have arrived or will soon arrive there. The first is a cargo ship — the truck of the sea, if you will — named Perla Del Caribe. It left Jacksonville on Sept. 22 — two days after Maria landed — and arrived in San Juan on Tuesday afternoon.

The second is a tanker, the Overseas Long Beach, which left Houston late on Sept. 21 and was to arrive late Tuesday night.

a reply to: Arnie123

Action didn't begin until a week after the storm hit and especially not over this past weekend. Got any excuses for Trump for that gap in response?

When will we learn to not treat tabloids as news. The governor said this:

The president has been very attentive to the situation, personally calling me several times. FEMA and the FEMA director have been here in Puerto Rico twice. As a matter of fact, they were here with us today, making sure that all the resources in FEMA were working in conjunction with the central government. We have been working together. We have been getting results. The magnitude of this catastrophe is enormous. This is going to take a lot of help, a lot of collaboration. So, my call is to congressmen and congresswomen to take action quickly and conclusively with an aid package for Puerto Rico.

www.pbs.org...

And FEMA's response is documented here:

www.fema.gov...

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
a reply to: pirhanna

The liberals are the ones who got him back on task with providing aid to PR.

Are you a comedian if not you should be. I havnt laughed so hard at someone in a long time. Trust me no one makes Trump do anything. Hes for decades done exactly what he wants

originally posted by: dawnstar
wgntv.com...
well, he's decided to send the USS Comfort...
after hillary suggested it

I thought Hillary already contacted the Navy directly and dispatched the ships herself...Haven't you heard, only Hillary has the power to get the US Navy moving. She is the real president of the United States...Just ask her!!

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
If it weren't for people constantly harping on his mismatch in response to Florida and Texas versus PR then I wouldn't need this thread, but Trump clearly cared for people in states that voted for him versus a territory that he probably didn't even know was a part of the US.

You're the first person I've heard say a damn thing about this. Who are these "constantly harping" folk you're associating yourself with?

ETA: You, Krazysh0t, started a thread a couple of days ago about the NFL flap... Now today you get around to Puerto Rico. Tell me, why don't you care about the people of Puerto Rico? Why do you care more about the nothings taking place in the NFL than you care about people who's whole lives have been horribly impacted?

(See how that works? It's ridiculously easy to throw someone under the bus.)