Story highlights The San Juan mayor said she hoped Trump would avoid rhetoric that she said hurt Puerto Rico

Trump visited Puerto Rico on Tuesday and praised the government for not "playing politics"

Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump should avoid making comments that hurt the people of Puerto Rico, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz told CNN following a briefing with Trump on the island.

"I think his staff understands now and they have all the data they need," Yulín Cruz said. "But I would hope that the President of the United States stops spouting out comments that really hurt the people of Puerto Rico because rather than commander in chief he sort of becomes miscommunicator in chief."

Yulín Cruz said in an interview with CNN's Leyla Santiago that a briefing with Trump on Tuesday preceded a "productive" discussion with administration staff, but she lamented the tone of the President's remarks in the wake of back-to-back hurricanes

Trump has accused Yulín Cruz of taking a political angle to criticize his administration's relief efforts, and Yulín Cruz said she was able to speak with the President briefly when he shook her hand at Tuesday's event.

"I told him, 'Mr. President this is about saving lives. It's not about politics,'" Yulín Cruz said. "That's all the interaction that mayors had with him."

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