In less than an hour on Thursday morning, President Donald Trump went from encouraging Americans to watch his favorite show, Fox & Friends, to telling residents of Puerto Rico the crisis there is “largely of their own making” to ultimately saying that the US government cannot keep federal emergency workers there “forever.”
“Puerto Rico survived the Hurricanes, now a financial crisis looms largely of their own making.” says Sharyl Attkisson. A total lack of…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017
…accountability say the Governor. Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes. Congress to decide how much to spend….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017
…We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017
The series of tweets comes as relief workers on the ground and Puerto Rican officials say the humanitarian crisis is much worse on the ground than the rosy picture Trump continues to paint.
Disgust aimed at the president came swiftly:
I am Disgusted Beyond Belief.
RETWEET For Puerto Rico!https://t.co/D2xv46nGY4— Impeach Donald Trump (@Impeach_D_Trump) October 12, 2017
Trump woke up this morning and decided to attack Puerto Rico while 84% of the country is still without power and 37% is still without water.
— Michael Skolnik (@MichaelSkolnik) October 12, 2017
Trump serves notice to Puerto Rico that federal government may eventually abandon the U.S. territory amid humanitarian crisis https://t.co/Ojja9xrBlX
— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) October 12, 2017
Our most important fundraising appeal of the year
December is the most critical time of year for Truthout, because our nonprofit news is funded almost entirely by individual donations from readers like you. So before you navigate away, we ask that you take just a second to support Truthout with a tax-deductible donation.
This year is a little different. We are up against a far-reaching, wide-scale attack on press freedom coming from the Trump administration. 2025 was a year of frightening censorship, news industry corporate consolidation, and worsening financial conditions for progressive nonprofits across the board.
We can only resist Trump’s agenda by cultivating a strong base of support. The right-wing mediasphere is funded comfortably by billionaire owners and venture capitalist philanthropists. At Truthout, we have you.
We’ve set an ambitious target for our year-end campaign — a goal of $166,000 to keep up our fight against authoritarianism in 2026. Please take a meaningful action in this fight: make a one-time or monthly donation to Truthout before December 31. If you have the means, please dig deep.