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Puerto Rico: power outages could last 3:08 months
Washington (CNN) - Puerto Rico experienced a 6.4 magnitude earthquake on Tuesday and suffered hundreds of subsequent tremors. And although President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on the island to deal with the aftermath, he has not spoken or tweeted about the disaster that took place in the United States.
The earthquakes have left approximately two thirds of the islands without electricity and 32 of the subsequent tremors have been of magnitude 4 or higher. On Wednesday, Trump approved an emergency declaration on the island, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) also declared a public health emergency.
The White House press office, which issued a statement about the earthquakes, said they speak for the president when asked why Trump had not said anything publicly about the disaster.
Trump's public silence has persisted even though he often comments publicly about natural disasters in the United States and abroad.
Since taking office, the president tweeted public statements about similar seismic events in California and Mexico. He also sent thoughts and prayers to those affected by tornadoes, storms and forest fires in Alabama, Ohio, Oklahoma, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Nebraska, Missouri and Tennessee. More recently, he sent "love" to Australia while the country fights forest fires.
Trump has had a tense history with the US territory. UU. since Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria in 2017.
Nearly 3,000 people died as a result of the storm and the aftermath, including widespread blackouts. Trump has always denied any fault in his administration after the storm. In fact, the president sought praise for his handling of Hurricane Maria, calling it "an incredible and unrecognized success" last year.
READ : When Hurricane Dorian hovered over Puerto Rico, Trump offered insults, not support
The president has indicated that Puerto Rico may not deserve the level of federal funding it obtained and that it had damages before Maria hit the island.
"Puerto Rico survived the hurricanes, now a financial crisis is looming largely on its own," says Sharyl Attkisson. A total lack of (...) accountability, says the governor. Electricity and the entire infrastructure was a disaster before hurricanes, ”he tweeted in October 2017.
“Congress will decide how much to spend. (…) We cannot keep FEMA, the military and the lifeguards, who have been amazing (in the most difficult circumstances) in public relations forever! ”
Trump has also suggested that corrupt politicians on the island are guilty of mismanagement of federal funds and opposed sending aid to Puerto Rico as part of an aid bill last year.
Things between the White House and the Puerto Rican government reached a critical point when the White House repeatedly refused to meet with Puerto Rican officials to discuss what they saw as terrible circumstances in the wake of the storm. The then governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló, described Trump as a bully and threatened to hit him in the mouth over the matter.
LOOK : Ricardo Rosselló: "If the bully approaches, I will punch him in the mouth"
Rosselló had been attacked on charges of corruption and resigned in July 2019 when the Puerto Rico Investigative Journalism Center published messages from Rosselló and members of his administration who were profane and homophobic.
Rosselló's threat to hit the president after Trump told Republican senators that he questioned the wisdom of directing more relief aid for storms in Puerto Rico, even though billions of dollars in funds have already been authorized by Congress .
Puerto Rico is still waiting for some 18,000 million in designated federal aid in the wake of the 2017 storms.
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On Thursday, the president of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, said that "the continued retention of funds allocated by Congress to Puerto Rico is illegal and we ask the administration to cease and desist from that illegal activity."
CNN's Betsy Klein, Jim Acosta and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.
earthquake