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Trump lashes out at Puerto Rico as House passes aid package

In this Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017 file photo, destroyed communities are seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico. The House is on track to backing President Donald Trump's request for billions more in disaster aid, $16 billion to pay flood insurance claims and emergency funding to help the cash-strapped government of Puerto Rico stay afloat. The hurricane aid package Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, totals $36.5 billion and sticks close to a White House request, ignoring - for now - huge demands from the powerful Florida and Texas delegations, who together pressed for some $40 billion more. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
In this Thursday, Sept. 28, 2017 file photo, destroyed communities are seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Toa Alta, Puerto Rico. The House is on track to backing President Donald Trump's request for billions more in disaster aid, $16 billion to pay flood insurance claims and emergency funding to help the cash-strapped government of Puerto Rico stay afloat. The hurricane aid package Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017, totals $36.5 billion and sticks close to a White House request, ignoring - for now - huge demands from the powerful Florida and Texas delegations, who together pressed for some $40 billion more. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

By Associated Press 7 min read

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump lashed out at hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico on Thursday, insisting in tweets that the federal government can’t keep sending help “forever” and suggesting the U.S. territory was to blame for its financial struggles.

His broadsides triggered an outcry from Democrats in Washington and officials on the island, which has been reeling since Hurricane Maria struck three weeks ago, leaving death and destruction in an unparalleled humanitarian crisis.

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, with whom Trump has had a running war of words, tweeted that the president’s comments were “unbecoming” to a commander in chief and “seem more to come from a ‘Hater in Chief.'”

“Mr. President, you seem to want to disregard the moral imperative that your administration has been unable to fulfill,” the mayor said in a statement.