Bill Press: President Trump’s Katrina

When President Trump arrives in Puerto Rico today, he’ll be about as welcome as Hurricane Maria was two weeks ago. Because, tragically, the widespread destruction of Maria was matched only by the woeful indifference of Donald.

The most powerful storm to hit Puerto Rico in 90 years, Maria slammed the island on Sept. 20 with winds up to 115 mph. Homes were flattened, roads and bridges were destroyed, the entire island lost electrical power, hospitals were shut down.

{mosads}News of Hurricane Maria dominated cable television, with many of the same crews bouncing from Harvey in Texas to Irma in Florida to Maria in Puerto Rico. Hurricane coverage was virtually 24/7. It seemed like everyone was following Hurricane Maria and its aftermath — except, curiously, Donald Trump. He wasn’t focused on Puerto Rico. He was focused on the NFL, instead.

At a campaign rally two days later, on Sept. 22, while Puerto Ricans were still trying to get back on their feet, Trump leveled his first attack against a handful of NFL players who took a knee during the singing of the national anthem. And he didn’t let up. Over the next weekend, he leveled 22 tweets against NFL players and owners, while issuing not one single tweet — not one! — about the disaster in Puerto Rico.

Days later, stung by criticism of his administration’s slow response to Hurricane Maria, Trump blamed the people of Puerto Rico for their own misfortune. “Texas & Florida are doing great,” he tweeted, “but Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble.” As if, by failing to balance the budget, Puerto Rico deserved a natural disaster.

Trump followed that with the lamest of excuses, telling reporters the administration’s failure to respond was because of a geographical reality any fifth grader could explain: “It’s the most difficult job because it’s on the island, it’s on an island in the middle of the ocean. … You can’t just drive your trucks there from other states.” Which would be funny, if so many lives weren’t on the line.

Maybe Donald Trump should have checked with Barack Obama before whining. What a contrast between Obama’s response to the earthquake in Haiti — which is also “an island in the middle of the ocean” — and Trump’s response to the hurricane in Puerto Rico. Within two days after an earthquake struck Haiti in January 2010, there were 8,000 U.S. troops on the ground. Within two weeks, there were 22,000 troops, 33 ships and more than 300 helicopters. Two weeks later, Trump still didn’t know where Puerto Rico was.

And what did Trump do, once he was shamed into focusing on Puerto Rico? He blamed the mayor of Puerto Rico for “bad leadership” and accused the media of not telling the truth. Which do you believe? Trump’s boastful tweets from his swanky golf club in New Jersey or reports from journalists and local officials on the ground in Puerto Rico?

There’s no denying the fact: Donald Trump did good work in Texas and Florida, but he blew it in Puerto Rico. Hurricane Maria is Donald Trump’s Katrina.

Press is host of “The Bill Press Show” on Free Speech TV and author of “Buyer’s Remorse: How Obama Let Progressives Down.”