Trump spars with Puerto Rican leaders over recovery delays

President Donald Trump criticized officials in Puerto Rico over the weekend, blaming them for poor leadership during the aftermath of Hurricane Maria and allowing the media to turn them against him. The president tweeted 24 times about Puerto Rico on Saturday and Sunday, labeling some media coverage as “fake news” and praising his administration’s response to the disaster. The U.S. territory continues to struggle with a massive recovery effort after Hurricane Maria rolled over the island. As of Sunday, more than half of Puerto Rico’s 3.4 million residents don’t have access to clean drinking water and 95 percent are without power. Carmen Yulín Cruz, the mayor of San Juan, held an emotional Friday news conference pleading with the Trump administration to clear the layers of bureaucracy impeding aid: “If anybody out there is listening to us, we are dying, and you are killing us with the inefficiency.” The next day, Trump accused Democrats of telling Cruz to be nasty to him and said federal responders are, in fact, doing a great job helping Puerto Rico. “Such poor leadership ability by the mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help,” Trump said. “They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort.” The president plans to visit Puerto Rico on Tuesday.