Trump Blasts ‘Corrupt’ Puerto Rican Officials As Protesters Call For Gov. Ricardo Rossello’s Resignation

President Donald Trump went after Puerto Rico’s “corrupt” government officials Thursday on Twitter, as San Juan has become mired in protests over the last few days.

“The Governor is under siege, the Mayor of San Juan is a despicable and incompetent person who I wouldn’t trust under any circumstance, and the United States Congress foolishly gave 92 Billion Dollars for hurricane relief, much of which was squandered away or wasted, never to be seen again,” Trump wrote, before accusing the island’s political leaders of having “wasted” their allotted relief funds and of “robbing the U.S. Government blind!”

A lot of bad things are happening in Puerto Rico. The Governor is under siege, the Mayor of San Juan is a despicable and incompetent person who I wouldn’t trust under any circumstance, and the United States Congress foolishly gave 92 Billion Dollars for hurricane relief, much….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2019

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….of which was squandered away or wasted, never to be seen again. This is more than twice the amount given to Texas & Florida combined. I know the people of Puerto Rico well, and they are great. But much of their leadership is corrupt, & robbing the U.S. Government blind!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 18, 2019

Trump had previously lambasted San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz after she criticized the White House’s response to Hurricane Maria, which devastated the territory in September 2017.

Protestors in Puerto Rico have been calling for Gov. Ricardo Rosselló to resign after hundreds of pages of disparaging text messages about his political rivals were leaked. According to several reports, the messages also contained information about public opinion polls allegedly that were allegedly manipulated and a distasteful remark about dead bodies piling up in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

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Trump also said the amount allocated to hurricane relief for Puerto Rico was more than twice the quantity allotted to Florida and Texas, both of which also suffered severe storm damage around the same time as Puerto Rico.

Trump famously called his administration’s response to Hurricane Maria an “unsung success” last year. The comment drew severe backlash from local leaders like Cruz and lawmakers, who noted that around 3,000 people were killed as a result of the storm. 

Police in San Juan used tear gas to dispel crowds of protesters outside the capital’s main government building, La Fortaleza.

.@HamiltonMusical creator @Lin_Manuel is not throwing away his shot.

He joined the #RickyRenucia protest in New York, demanding the resignation of Puerto Rico’s Gov. Rossello #RickyVeteYa pic.twitter.com/KQ72AcAKXc

— Bloomberg TicToc (@tictoc) July 18, 2019

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