Trump gives his team a '10' for its Puerto Rico hurricane response

President Donald Trump on Thursday gave the federal government the highest marks for its response to the hurricane devastation in Puerto Rico.

“I’d say it was a 10,” the president, who sat beside Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, told reporters on Thursday. “There’s never been anything like that. I give ourselves a 10.”


Trump has been heavily criticized by some for his muted initial response to the damage to the U.S. territory, and he has publicly feuded with certain local officials about whether he was giving Puerto Rico less attention than Texas and Florida, which were also hit hard by hurricanes in recent weeks.

Trump repeatedly praised Rosselló during a nearly 40-minute exchange with reporters, in which both leaders alternately addressed the media. But he saved the highest plaudits for himself, recalling past praise from a Bill Clinton-era FEMA director and putting Rosselló on the spot with a pointed question about how well the government responded.

The president’s kind words for Rosselló — “I can tell you, you are a hardworking governor” — were mixed with slight digs at the U.S. territory, which he singled out for being in “rough shape” even before the storms blew through. He also called out roads he said were “in really horrific shape” before the hurricanes, as well as the “pretty well destroyed” power grid and the territory’s “massive” debt.

“I’d say it was probably the most difficult when you talk about relief, when you talk about search, when you talk about all of the different levels, and even when you talk about lives saved,” Trump said. “You look at the number. I mean, this was — I think it was worse than Katrina.”

Trump, in his trademark hyperbole, insisted no one has ever seen a hurricane hit land like in Puerto Rico. “They got hit dead center — if you look at those maps, by a category 5. Nobody’s ever heard of a [category] 5 hitting land,” he suggested. “Usually by that time it’s dissipated. It hit right through — and kept to a [category] 5. It hit right through the middle of the island, right through the middle of Puerto Rico. There’s never been anything like that. I give ourselves a 10.”

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The federal government, Trump noted, is “helping a lot,” and “this is costing a lot of money.” He maintained, however, that the Trump administration has an obligation to Puerto Rico, humanity and “ourselves.” Even so, the president made clear that the federal government’s presence can’t be in Puerto Rico forever.

“I can say that for anywhere. I can say that for anyplace we go,” Trump said. “At some point, FEMA has to leave, first responders have to leave and the people have to take over.”

The president has claimed that James Lee Witt, who headed FEMA in the Clinton administration, had given the Trump administration an A-plus for its hurricane response, including Puerto Rico. Witt, however, has said the grade is only applicable to the federal response in Texas and Florida because it’s too soon to grade the response in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Nevertheless, Trump continued touting the new talking point.

“It was very nice that the gentleman who worked for Bill Clinton, when he was president, gave us an A-plus, and that included Puerto Rico,” Trump said. “Gave us an A-plus, and I thought that was really very nice. And I think — I really believe he’s correct. We have done a really great job.”

He added later that the hurricanes that rocked Puerto Rico were “actually bigger than anything we’ve seen, and yet I think our response was better than anyone has ever seen.”

“And again,” he said, “we were given A-plus by the man who did this, did what you were doing, for the Clinton administration. And while I don’t know him, I would like to thank him for what he said.”

And, as if that weren’t enough assurance, he turned to Rosselló. “Governor, I just wanna maybe ask you a question because for the spirit of these people that have worked so hard and so long,” the president began, “did the United States, did our government when we came in, did we do a great job? Military, first responders, FEMA, did we do a great job?”

“You responded immediately, sir,” the governor said. “The response is there. Do we need to do a lot more? Of course we do. And I think everybody over here recognizes there’s a lot of work to be done in Puerto Rico, but with your leadership, sir, and with everybody over here, we’re committed to achieving that in the long run.”