CRISIS/MILITARY/PUERTO RICO/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The Trump administration, facing criticism for its response to the devastation in Puerto Rico, sent a three-star general to the island Thursday [9-28-17] to ramp up relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, a commander of U.S. Army North, had already been overseeing the effort from San Antonio, the White House said, but is being sent to the U.S. territory to ‘have his eyes on it and make sure he’s comfortable with the interaction between his forces, and the governor and the municipal forces,’ said White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert.
Asked why Gen. Buchanan wasn’t deployed to Puerto Rico when the hurricane first hit, Mr. Bossert said: ‘It didn’t require a three-star general eight days ago.’ He added that he didn’t expect the general to ‘stay there long.’
Gen. Buchanan will join a one-star Army general—Brig. Gen. Rich Kim, the operations officer for U.S. Northern Command—who arrived on the island Wednesday.
More than a week after the Category 4 storm ravaged Puerto Rico, destroying roads and its electrical grid, most residents remain without power and struggle to find food and clean water.
At a White House briefing, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, speaking to the storm victims, said: ‘We are praying for you. We are working for you. And we will not let you down.’ “
-Natalie Andrews, Ben Kesling, and Rebecca Ballhaus, “White House Sends General to Oversee Puerto Rico Relief,” The Wall Street Journal online, Sept. 28, 2017 05:50pm