Donald Trump has finally had the realization that he isn’t getting “tremendous reviews” on his administration’s recovery and relief efforts in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. How do we know? The White House deployed his FEMA director and Department of Homeland Security chief Tuesday afternoon to explain why Americans are seeing pleas of “S.O.S. We need water/food!!” from flyovers of Puerto Rico on their television screens.
A “sign of stepped up efforts” is the decidedly glass-half-full version of events. More than likely, it’s a product of Trump cursing at his TV set after Fox News aired a not-so-flattering segment on his lackluster Puerto Rico relief efforts Monday night. After ignoring the U.S. territory for days, Trump spent the bulk of Tuesday explaining that his administration has been having a difficult time getting aid to Puerto Rico since it’s “in the middle of the ocean.” Some crackerjack in the White House comms department finally realized that Trump remarking “This is a thing called the Atlantic Ocean ... tough stuff,” wasn’t really getting the job done.
Time to send out FEMA director Brock Long.
"We're dramatically increasing the federal footprint that's [in Puerto Rico]," Long assured reporters outside the White House.
Long said the administration is also finally deploying the USNS Comfort hospital ship to the area, an action Hillary Clinton called for days ago. It and all the other “stepped up efforts” better get there quick because the mayor of San Juan said Tuesday morning that people’s lives are hanging in the balance.
Long devoted the early part of the short press conference to explaining why relief efforts weren’t moving as quickly as Puerto Ricans need them to be. “This is a logistically challenging, very unique event that the United States hasn't seen in a very, very long time, if ever,” Long said, adding that the devastation was broad because “there were no building codes” and logistics have been difficult because “it's an island.” Long then sprinkled in some information about how massive the FEMA response now is, including “thousands of people that are mobilizing as we speak.”
But Long delivered his most important message late in the presser, warning, “We do not have a true culture of preparedness in this country."
So on the bright side, the administration has finally woken up to the fact that we have a serious situation in Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, it appears to have gotten that message too late as Trump squandered many precious hours obsessing over what football players were or weren’t doing on the field. Too bad Trump wasn’t more worried about saving the lives of U.S. citizens.
Don’t be surprised if the images on your TV screen get worse before they get better, courtesy of Donald Trump’s incompetence.