PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla.— President Trump on Wednesday pledged $448 million in new funding to help Florida recover from Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 Storm that devastated the northwest part of the state last fall.
Trump announced the additional Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recovery funds at a campaign rally after touring damage from the storm at nearby Tyndall Air Force Base. He said the federal government would pay 90 percent of the costs “in many circumstances.”
“The money is coming immediately. No games, no gimmicks, no delays,” he said. “We will never, ever leave your side.”
After announcing additional investments in the Florida recovery process, Trump chided Puerto Rican leaders for their response to his administration’s recovery efforts following Hurricane Maria.
The president reasserted that his administration gave Puerto Rico $91 billion for recovery efforts.
But that figure is disputed, as the island has thus far received $11 billion in recovery funds, but could receive up to $91 billion over the course of several years.{mosads}
Trump at one point pulled out a piece of paper that featured a bar graph depicting how much Puerto Rico had received in aid compared to Texas and Florida in the aftermath of hurricanes.
“What the Democrats want to do they want to give more and more and I say you know what, I have a great relationship with the people of Puerto Rico, but it hasn’t been fair the way they’ve treated all of us from the standpoint of their leaders. because they complain. they want more money.”
“And I think that the people of PR are very grateful to Donald Trump for what we’ve done for them,” he added. “That was a bad storm.”
Trump on Monday blamed Democrats for a breakdown in negotiations over disaster relief funding, which stalled last month in the Senate. He suggested that Democrats’ desire to boost funding for Puerto Rico has delayed money for several other states in need of money following flooding and other natural disasters.
The president also urged Democrats in Congress to support a disaster-recovery bill that has been delayed for months and would provide relief to many areas that were hit by natural disasters last year.
Shortly after Trump’s rally ended, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) issued a statement accusing Senate Republicans of holding up disaster funding legislation and hitting Trump for “inflicting more needless suffering” on Puerto Rico.
She said the House will vote this week on a $17.2 billion disaster relief package, which includes $3 billion for flood-ravaged communities in Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri. Should the measure pass, the focus will shift to the Senate to advance the bill to Trump’s desk.
“We are now just weeks away from another hurricane season and Republicans continue to delay and play politics,” Pelosi said. “When disaster strikes, all Americans deserve to know that their government is there for them.”
Updated 9:56 p.m.