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US President Donald Trump has visited Puerto Rico on a mission to reassure the island's struggling residents that he is committed to their recovery from a devastating hurricane that has tested his ability to manage natural disasters. Mr Trump highlighted the island's relatively low death toll — where at least 16 people died — compared with what he called "a real catastrophe like Katrina," where more than 1,000 people died in 2005. Since Mr Trump's comments, the official death toll has more than doubled to 34. 
One of the first people Mr Trump met when he and his wife, Melania, touched down in San Juan, Puerto Rico, was the city's mayor, Carmen Yulin Cruz, who has repeatedly blasted Mr Trump as showing insufficient concern about the US territory's plight. Mr Trump, who has grappled with hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in the past six weeks, praised the federal assistance so far in Puerto Rico but said at a briefing that the disasters are straining the boundaries of the US budget. "And that's fine, we've saved a lot of lives." 
The trip offered Mr Trump the chance to show solidarity with survivors, who are still struggling to get basic necessities, and demonstrate how his government intends to help them recover after they were hit by Maria, the worst hurricane in 90 years. A few days earlier Mr Trump had lashed out at Ms Cruz on Twitter for "poor leadership" on the weekend after she criticised his Government's response. He cited "politically motivated ingrates" and said some people on the island "want everything to be done for them." Mr Trump shook hands with Ms Cruz after his arrival but he saved his warm words of praise for other local and federal authorities. "Right from the beginning, this Governor did not play politics," he said of Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo efore leaving Washington on Tuesday morning, Mr Trump told reporters that roads were cleared and communication capabilities were coming back on the island. 
He said the mayor had "come back a long way" since her criticism. Mr Trump had criticism of his own about the local response. "Their drivers have to start driving trucks," he said at the White House. "So on a local level, they have to give us more help. But I will tell you, the first responders, the military, FEMA, they have done an incredible job in Puerto Rico."
He said the mayor had "come back a long way" since her criticism. Mr Trump had criticism of his own about the local response. "Their drivers have to start driving trucks," he said at the White House. "So on a local level, they have to give us more help. But I will tell you, the first responders, the military, FEMA, they have done an incredible job in Puerto Rico." The economy of the US territory, home to 3.4 million people, was already in recession and its Government filed for bankruptcy in May. The storm wiped out the island's power grid, and less than half of residents have running water. Two weeks after Maria hit, it is still difficult for residents to get a mobile phone signal or find fuel for their generators or cars. Valentine Navarro, 26, a salesman in San Juan, shrugged off Mr Trump's trip as a public relations exercise.
Mr Trump's administration has transferred more than $US20.5 million ($26 million) in federal funds to Puerto Rico to defray disaster expenses, FEMA said on its website. The administration is preparing to ask Congress for $US13 billion in aid for Puerto Rico and other areas hit by natural disasters, according to congressional sources. But that money will only go so far. The island's recovery will likely cost more than $US30 billion.
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