Trump takes credit for Puerto Rico emergency aid he fought for weeks
President Donald Trump falsely claimed credit for rescuing Puerto Rico after signing a bipartisan disaster relief bill passed by Congress earlier in the week, a version of which he tried to reject previously.
After weeks of working to stop aid to the U.S. territory, which was devastated by multiple hurricanes two years ago, Trump finally agreed to sign the deal after bipartisan congressional leaders reached an agreement to move the legislation with or without his support.
“Just signed Disaster Aid Bill to help Americans who have been hit by recent catastrophic storms,” he tweeted. “So important ... Puerto Rico should love President Trump. Without me, they would have been shut out!” Trump has attempted to credit himself for singlehandedly saving Puerto Rico in the past, even tweeting in April that he was “the best thing that ever happened” to the island.
The president has repeatedly attacked Puerto Rico for having had pre-existing debt and infrastructure problems, accused the mayor of incompetence, announced that emergency crews could “not stay in Puerto Rico forever” to help it rebuild, falsely claimed that the territory had received $91 billion in aid, and repeatedly tried to cut the flow of relief funds to the still-struggling population.
At one point, the president reportedly considered re-purposing existing Puerto Rican aid dollars to pay for his massive southern border wall.
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-takes-credit-for-puerto-rico-emergency-aid-he-fought-for-weeks-4de6ed0c22b9/