Trump On Mayor In Puerto Rico: 'Such Poor Leadership'
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WASHINGTON (CBSMiami) -- President Donald Trump has fired back at the mayor of Puerto Rico's capital city following criticism of the recovery efforts after Hurricane Maria smashed into the island last week.
Saturday morning, the president lashed out at San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, who criticized the Trump administration's response to help that she said was "killing us with the inefficiency."
"We are dying here and I cannot fathom the thought that the greatest nation in the world cannot figure out the logistics for the small island of 100 miles by 35 miles long," Cruz pleaded at a press conference in San Juan. "So mayday we are in trouble."
Trump said the criticism was a reversal from earlier in the week.
"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.
On Wednesday, CBS News' David Bregnaud showed thousands of shipping containers filled with supplies sitting at the port of Puerto Rico. The problem now turns to truck drivers and the man power needed to distribute.
Maddening.
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) September 27, 2017
3,000 shipping containers packed with food water & medicene have been sitting at the port in Puerto Rico since Saturday pic.twitter.com/LJ0ETpmnOf
Inside the containers were enough to allegedly help "half a million Puerto Ricans."
When @ricardorossello told us there was food water & medicene sitting in the port of Puerto Rico, we went looking. Here's what we found. pic.twitter.com/28o5iE4N6q
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) September 28, 2017
Thousands on the island have been given water and food as the relief bottleneck began to ease. Still, many remain desperate for the necessities.
Mayor Cruz responded to Trump's tweets, saying: "There is only one goal: saving lives, this is the time to show what we're made of. We cannot be distracted with anything else."
La meta es sólo una: salvar vidas este es el momento para demostrar de que estamos hecho. No podemos distraernos con nada más. pic.twitter.com/P7c0uCAbHK
— Carmen Yulín Cruz (@CarmenYulinCruz) September 30, 2017
President Trump will visit Puerto Rico with first lady Melania Trump on Tuesday, saying they will try to stop off at the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well.