Despite evidence showing nearly 3,000 people were killed, US president tweets that figure is scheme ‘to make me look bad’

Donald Trump has falsely claimed that 3,000 people did not die in Puerto Rico from Hurricane Maria, and said the number was made up by the Democratic party “to make me look as bad as possible”.

Trump calls Puerto Rico hurricane effort an 'unsung success' – here's the reality Read more

Despite significant evidence showing nearly 3,000 people were killed in the devastating storm last year, Trump tweeted an extraordinary claim that the official death toll was a political scheme, two days after he was sharply criticised for saying the government had an “unsung success” in its response to Maria.

Play Video 0:48 'He doesn't get it': San Juan mayor criticises Trump's Hurricane Maria comments – video

Puerto Rico’s government raised the official death toll from 64 people to 2,975 late last month following the publication of new research by George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health.

Though the official death toll was changed, reports by other academic institutions and newspapers estimated the death toll was in the thousands as early as December 2017. But Trump contested these findings on Thursday.

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 3000 people did not die in the two hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico. When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3000...

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) .....This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico. If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list. Bad politics. I love Puerto Rico!

A report published in May by the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health said up to 4,600 people were killed and an investigation published in December by the Center for Investigative Journalism found the actual death toll exceeded 1,000 people.

The adjustment of the official death toll followed nearly a year of campaigning by journalists, activists and academics to get the government to officially acknowledge the scale of devastation because 64 people was always considered an underestimate. The George Washington University report said the actual number of excess deaths was estimated to be in the range of 2,658 to 3,290.

On Thursday afternoon, the university issued a statement defending its research, saying, as reported by NBC: “We stand by the science underlying our study, which found there were an estimated 2,975 excess deaths in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.”

Trump’s visit to Puerto Rico in October 2017 was defined by the moment he threw paper towels into a crowd of people as aid agencies and journalists warned of a major humanitarian crisis spanning the island of 3.3 million people.

Play Video 0:33 Trump throws paper towels into crowd in Puerto Rico – video

On his visit, he appeared to complain about the cost of the recovery effort. “I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you’ve thrown our budget a little out of whack,” he said at a briefing shortly after arriving on the island.

Play Video 1:01 'You've thrown our budget a little out of whack', Trump tells Puerto Rico – video

Maria, which made landfall as a category 4 storm, caused an island-wide power outage, almost completely knocked out communications including satellite phones and left 80% of the island without access to water in the days following the storm.

The majority of the island’s 69 hospitals were without electricity or fuel for generators a week after Maria made landfall. The supply chain crumbled, preventing people across the island from getting food, water and fuel.

Trump’s claim that when he left the island there had been “anywhere from six to 18 deaths” does not acknowledge that before he arrived, Puerto Rico’s health secretary said it was fair to assume the number would rise. Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI), a local investigative journalism project, also reported before Trump’s visit that hospital mortuaries were at capacity and people were not able to bury dead relatives because funeral homes were unable to operate.

There is also no indication Trump raised “billions” to help rebuild the island and the government’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) has said its recovery efforts were strained after responding to two other major hurricanes weeks before Maria.

The mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz, responded to Trump on Twitter: “This is what denial following neglect looks like: Mr Pres in the real world people died on your watch. YOUR LACK OF RESPECT IS APPALLING!

Carmen Yulín Cruz (@CarmenYulinCruz) This is what denial following neglect looks like: Mr Pres in the real world people died on your watch. YOUR LACK OF RESPECT IS APPALLING! pic.twitter.com/OJEDqT74Sr

“Thousands of americans, our diaspora & latinos that came to PR to care for us and become advocates for our people deserve better than this,” she continued. “Simply put: delusional, paranoid, and unhinged from any sense of reality. Trump is so vain he thinks this is about him. NO IT IS NOT.”

Ricardo Roselló, Puerto Rico’s governor, said some parts of the government’s response to Maria were good and some were concerning, in response to Trump’s tweets. Roselló said it was important for elected officials to identify mistakes and not be afraid to address how things could have been done better.

“The only way to make it better in the future is to recognize it in the first place so they can mitigate the next event,” Roselló said. “That is my commitment, I hope it is the same commitment with the federal government.”

Paul Ryan contested Trump’s claim that the death toll numbers were fabricated by Democrats.

“I have no reason to dispute those numbers,” the House speaker told reporters during a weekly leadership news conference on Thursday. “Those are just the facts when a horrible hurricane hits an isolated island.”

Ryan sidestepped a question about whether he thought the president owed family members of the victims who died an apology.

“This was a devastating storm that hit an isolated island. That is really no one’s fault,” he said. “That is what happened.”