10/3/2017

BUDGET/CRISIS/PUERTO RICO/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump commended rescue workers and passed out supplies to storm victims as he toured Puerto Rico on Tuesday [10-2-17], while also saying that the costs tied to Hurricane Maria have ‘thrown our budget a little out of whack,’ drawing rebukes from Democrats who called the remarks callous…
Lawmakers last month appropriated $15.25 billion in relief funds, two weeks after Hurricane Harvey hit Texas and while Hurricane Irma was making landfall in Florida. Hurricane Maria first made landfall in Puerto Rico on Sept. 20. An additional $6.7 billion became available on Oct. 1, stemming from Congress’s passage of a continuing resolution attached to the hurricane-relief measure.
In their tour Tuesday, Mr. Trump and his wife, Melania, met with Puerto Rican officials before getting a firsthand look at the storm damage. While introducing his budget director, Mick Mulvaney, the president noted that the hurricane has strained the government’s coffers.
‘I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you’ve thrown our budget a little out of whack,’ the president said. ‘Because we’ve spent a lot of money on Puerto Rico, and that’s fine. We’ve saved a lot of lives.’…
Mr. Trump’s remarks about the recovery costs angered Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York, who last month struck a budget deal with the president and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi in a rare sign of bipartisan cooperation.”

-Peter Nicholas Arian Campo-Flores and Natalie Andrews, “Trump Cites Storm’s Budget Impact in Puerto Rico Visit,” The Wall Street Journal online, Oct. 3, 2017 06:00pm