President Donald Trump has come under fire for appearing to blame Puerto Rico for neglecting its infrastructure and financial health in recent years. | Win McNamee/Getty Images Trump sparks new backlash after threatening Puerto Rico aid The president said FEMA and the military can’t be kept ‘forever’ in the hurricane-ravaged U.S. territory.

President Donald Trump on Thursday suggested that U.S. citizens on the hurricane-ravaged island of Puerto Rico shouldn’t get used to assistance from the federal government — a statement that sparked new outrage and left the White House on the defensive.

“Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes,” Trump wrote on Twitter in a series of posts. “Congress to decide how much to spend. We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!”


Trump has come under fire for appearing to blame Puerto Rico for neglecting its infrastructure and financial health in recent years, while sparring with local officials and initially giving the U.S. territory less attention than hurricane victims in Texas and Florida.

The tweets on Thursday — which landed as nearly 90 percent of the island was still without power and nearly 40 percent of residents lack access to clean drinking water — particularly touched a nerve.

“It is not that you do not get it; you are incapable of fulfilling the moral imperative to help the people of PR. Shame on you.![sic]” Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, wrote on Twitter. In recent weeks, she has been a target of severe criticism from Trump, who dismissed her and other critics as “politically motivated ingrates.”

Puerto Rico’s governor, Ricardo Rosselló, sought a less fiery path, writing on Twitter: “The U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico are requesting the support that any of our fellow citizens would receive across our Nation.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said at a news conference that Trump’s broadside “is heartbreaking and it lacks knowledge.”

Two other Democrats, Reps. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), even asked the Department of Homeland Security to investigate the possible underreporting of deaths caused by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.

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The concern was not contained to Democrats. House Speaker Paul Ryan echoed Trump’s comment that the island needs fiscal reforms, but suggested now was not the time for that debate.

“At the moment, and it’s why I’m going down there tomorrow, there’s a humanitarian crisis that needs to be attended to and this is an area where the federal government has a responsibility, and we’re acting on it,” Ryan said.

The White House sought to clean up the comments later on Thursday, with chief of staff John Kelly telling reporters later that “the U.S. military and FEMA can’t be there forever.”

“The minute you go anywhere as a first responder, and this would apply certainly to the military, you are trying very hard to work yourself out of a job,” Kelly said during a surprise appearance at the White House briefing, adding that FEMA and the military can be withdrawn “hopefully sooner rather than later.”

He said he had spoken with Rosselló earlier Thursday and that the White House enjoys a “great relationship” with the governor. “Our country will stand with those American cities in Puerto Rico until the job is done,” Kelly added.

The White House also released a statement from press secretary Sarah Sanders on Thursday afternoon.

“Our job in any disaster affected location is to help the community respond and recover from that disaster. We continue to do so with the full force of the U.S. government and its resources in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands and other affected areas,” Sanders said. “Successful recoveries do not last forever; they should be as swift as possible to help people resume their normal lives. We are committed to helping Puerto Rico. Our Administration is working with Governor Rossello and Congress to identify the best fiscally responsible path forward.”

And a White House official stressed that Puerto Rico’s debt crisis would be addressed independently of the disaster relief process.

Trump’s morning warning came after White House officials had stressed for weeks their intention to work with Puerto Rico throughout the recovery process. And Trump himself had said last month that "we will not rest ... until the people of Puerto Rico are safe."

"These are great people. We want them to be safe and sound and secure, and we will be there every day until that happens," Trump said at a manufacturing event on Sept. 29.

Puerto Rico has struggled with the devastation from a particularly heavy hurricane season, one that included a direct hit from Hurricane Maria late last month that devastated large swaths of the island. The official death toll from the storm has risen to 45, CNN reported Wednesday, and at least 113 people are unaccounted for.

Reports of desperation are piling up, including from federal government officials. The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday warned Puerto Rican residents against breaking into industrial waste sites in search of drinking water. And The New York Times reported that medical care remains a challenge on the island, with just 43 of the island's 72 open hospitals currently operating with power.

Still, Trump has asserted that his administration’s handling of the storm has been a great success, and he has rejected any criticism of the effort as “fake news.”

Even as the president has continued to rail against the territory, Congress on Thursday moved forward on hurricane relief funds, which the White House has also advocated for.

The U.S. House passed a $36.5 billion aid package, much of it targeted at Puerto Rico, by a vote of 353-69. The legislation marks the largest disaster package since the one provided for Hurricane Sandy victims in 2013.

The money would replenish the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s coffers by roughly $18 billion, which lawmakers say is enough to last for several more weeks. That includes $4.9 billion in emergency loans to ensure the cash-strapped island government can pay its workers and other debts.

But GOP leaders have been clear that another installment of aid will be needed before the end of this year. Emergency responders from all federal agencies, from FEMA to the Defense Department, have been going quickly through their cash reserves in Puerto Rico’s worst disaster in decades.

And Democrats are saying that Trump’s rhetoric is not helping.

“The President of the United States’ most solemn duty is to protect the safety and the security of the American people. By suggesting he might abdicate this responsibility for our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico, Mr. Trump has called into question his ability to lead,” Velázquez said in a statement.

Sarah Ferris, Colin Wilhelm, Rachael Bade and Heather Caygle contributed to this report.