The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) affirmed Thursday that it would continue to support Puerto Rico after President Trump suggested the agency may be pulled from the hurricane-ravaged island.
FEMA “will be w/Puerto Rico, [U.S. Virgin Islands], every state, territory impacted by a disaster every day, supporting throughout their response & recovery,” the agency’s deputy director of public affairs Eileen Lainez wrote on Twitter.
“Although it will take time for communities to recover, residents are seeing some services being restored in their communities,” FEMA said in a news release on federal efforts that the spokeswoman shared Thursday.
{mosads}”FEMA, in coordination and partnership with 36 federal departments and agencies, remains focused on helping the people of the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico with life-sustaining commodities and other essential services. As more businesses open and public services are restored, quality of life will continue to improve for many residents,” it added.
Trump suggested earlier Thursday that he may pull the agency, along with other federal responders, from Puerto Rico, saying federal teams cannot stay on the U.S. territory indefinitely.
“We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!” Trump wrote in a series of tweets.
FEMA, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security, has been stretched thin as the U.S. suffered three massive hurricanes within just two months. The agency is still present in Texas and Florida to help communities recoup from hurricanes Harvey and Irma, respectively.
Puerto Rico’s citizens are still largely without power and access to drinking water after Hurricane Maria.
Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said in a tweet Thursday that the island’s citizens are “requesting the support that any of our fellow citizens would receive across our Nation.”
Trump previously faced criticism for the federal government’s apparently slow reaction to the storm in sending aid and response teams. He later blamed the slow recovery on Puerto Rican officials, questioning the judgement of officials in responding to the storm.