By John Bacon
US President Donald Trump warned on Thursday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the US military can't provide aid to Puerto Rico "forever", as the hurricane-battered island struggles to provide power, water and other basic services three weeks after the devastation wrought by Hurricane Maria.
Trump's tweets drew a sharp response from San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, who referred to the President on Twitter as a "hater-in-chief".
Trump also tweeted that Congress must decide how much money the federal government will spend and noted that "electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes".
More than 80 per cent of the island remains without power since the category 4 storm made landfall on September 20 with sustained winds approaching 250km/h.
US President Donald Trump.Credit: Bloomberg
Communications were compromised, and damage to ports, airports and roads further conspired to complicate aid efforts.
"We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!" Trump tweeted.
The President also quoted conservative talk show host Sharyl Attkisson as saying that Puerto Rico survived Hurricane Maria and now faces a financial crisis "of its own making".
Puerto Rico has been in recession for a decade. Facing more than $US70 billion in debts, the island defaulted on its bonds and filed for the equivalent of bankruptcy in May. That has essentially locked Puerto Rico out of the bond market, leaving little room to borrow money for the rebuild.
Puerto Rico Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz.Credit: AP
Cruz and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer led a social media charge challenging Trump's assertions.
Tweeted Schumer: "There is still devastation, Americans are still dying. FEMA needs to stay until the job is done."
Residents sit on a couch outside their destroyed homes in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.Credit: AP
Trump has consistently portrayed the emergency response in Puerto Rico as effective and successful.
That narrative has drawn scorn from Cruz, whom Trump previously described as "nasty".
The mayor hasn't shied from Trump's wrath, recently donning a "Nasty" T-shirt. And she was not quiet in the face of Trump's tweets on Thursday.
Trump's warning came a day after FEMA awarded the Puerto Rico water authority $US70 million for emergency work, bringing the total amount of assistance awarded to individuals and communities to $US210 million, FEMA said.
Maria hit within weeks of the powerful one-two punch to the US mainland dealt by Hurricane Harvey, which laid waste to a swath of the Texas Gulf Coast, and Hurricane Irma, which hammered Florida so unrelentingly that most of the state lost power.
Those storms kept FEMA on full alert for weeks before Maria blasted Puerto Rico.
On September 30, Trump accused Cruz of poor leadership and said of Puerto Rico: "They want everything to be done for them."
TNS