On Tuesday, October 3, 2017, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump visited Puerto Rico, several days after Hurricane Maria struck the island.
The Trumps landed in the morning at Luis Muñiz Air National Guard Base, where Governor Ricardo Rosselló welcomed them:
The Trumps went immediately to a progress meeting involving the governor and his wife, FEMA, the military, other first responders and various mayors of cities in Puerto Rico. Here, President Trump greeted Carmen Yulín Cruz, the outspoken mayor of San Juan. Trump held his ground at the weekend with several tweets about her, including this:
She is the only mayor out of 78 to refuse to attend FEMA meetings. This was her first one. Governor Rosselló is on the right in the photo:
She wore stilettos. A comment on the First Lady, perhaps? Mrs Trump wore work boots in Puerto Rico — and flats on the flight — by the way:
Although Mayor Yulín was at the head table, she sat far away from the president, on the right:
The following clip does not show Mayor Yulín scowling, but features President Trump praising Governor Rosselló as a man who ‘doesn’t play games’. One can imagine that she did scowl at that:
She was upset that Trump said Puerto Rico had thrown off the national budget. He said it in a tongue-in-cheek way, but Yulín thought differently. Of course, she and CNN had to get together once again. Did you know that CNN brought her the ‘we are dying’ shirt?
The next day, she appeared on television in a new tee shirt:
I do not recall in my many hours of reading that Trump called Yulín either of those things.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders discussed Mayor Yulín in her Press Briefing on Thursday, October 5 (emphases mine):
MS. SANDERS: The mayor of San Juan had that shirt saying “NASTY.” What does this White House believe? The President went there; it was very controversial, his appearance there.
MS. SANDERS: Actually, it wasn’t controversial.
Q Well, some people —
MS. SANDERS: It was actually widely praised, even by a Democrat governor. I think that it is sad that the mayor of San Juan chose to make that a political statement instead of a time of focusing on the relief efforts.
The President invited her to be part of that conversation. He specifically asked in the meeting where many were present, including a couple dozen other mayors who were very happy with the recovery efforts — the governor, the congresswoman. He opened the floor up for discussion, and she actually made zero comments. To me, that would have been the time and the place that she should have weighed in and asked for what she needed, and laid out what she was asking for for San Juan. She didn’t.
Instead she chose to wait until the President left and then criticize him on TV, which I think is the wrong thing for her to do for her constituents. And I hope next time she’s given the opportunity to help her constituents, she’ll take it.
Geraldo Rivera of Fox News met up with President Trump later:
Trump spoke with him, mentioning that, coming from New York, he cares a great deal for Puerto Rico. He also thanked the federal agencies, military and first responders for the progress they have made in challenging conditions:
Afterwards, the Trumps toured the area around San Juan and spoke with the people they met.
They saw this supporter along the way:
Governor Rosselló took the Trumps to the Calvary Chapel in Guaynabo, not far from San Juan:
There, the president handed out supplies, including paper towels:
The president also talked with residents of Guaynabo:
The mayor expressed his gratitude:
Trump also spoke with residents of San Juan, who requested photo ops:
Unrelated to anything in particular, how did everyone end up with the same facial expression?
On another stop, President Trump comforted a serviceman:
The day concluded with a visit aboard the USS Kearsarge, where Trump received a further briefing — and met with Governor Kenneth Mapp of the Virgin Islands, whom I will cover in a separate post.
This was the first time Marine One has landed on the Kearsarge:
The Trumps also met with the Navy personnel and Marines aboard the ship:
The president pledged his continued support:
USNS Comfort arrived that day:
FEMA continued to hand out supplies:
Customs and Border Patrol were hard at work:
As a thank you for her support, the Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico got to board Air Force One:
In closing, difficult recovery situations remain — click on the man cleaning his kitchen (top left):
New communications lines are being stolen (why??):
People are leaving the island:
Difficult questions also remain:
Even so, it seems as if many Puerto Ricans appreciate the president. This man says he is doing ‘an awesome job’:
This lady thanks God for President Trump and Vice President Pence:
Amen!
Next stop, Las Vegas in the aftermath of the Mandalay Bay massacre:
I will cover that next week.
This post first appeared on Churchmouse Campanologist | Ringing The Bells For, please read the originial post: here
