White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney said Sunday that President Donald Trump’s frustration with the media over its coverage of Puerto Rico was due to news organizations not covering the ongoing “federal effort.”

In an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union,” Mulvaney said while the media have done a successful job of covering the current state of Puerto Rico’s population, which has largely been without power and water, it is not covering the government’s response.

“What you’ve not shown, however, is the federal effort that we’ve got in place down there,” Mulvaney said when asked about Trump’s tweet urging those in Puerto Rico not to “believe the #fakenews.” “So I think that’s where the president’s pushback is.”

To the people of Puerto Rico:

Do not believe the #FakeNews!#PRStrong🇵🇷 — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017

……#FakeNews critics are working overtime, but we're getting great marks from the people that truly matter! #PRStrong🇵🇷 — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017

Mulvaney added that the recovery effort for the island “was always going to be harder,” noting its distance from the mainland United States.

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