Analysis: Trump seems to inflate the price tag for Puerto Rico’s recovery to deny funding Puerto Rico’s recovery
President Trump and Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello participate in a meeting in the Oval Office in 2017. By Philip Bump Philip Bump National correspondent focused largely on the numbers behind politics Email Bio Follow March 26 at 6:22 PM President Trump is frustrated by two numbers that emerged after Hurricane Maria laid waste to Puerto Rico in 2017.
But unlike the estimated death toll, which is rooted in statistical analysis of the island’s mortality patterns, Trump’s $91 billion appears to be a steep inflation of what’s actually been appropriated. “It’s unclear where Trump got the figure for Puerto Rico aid,” The Washington Post’s Seung Min Kim, Josh Dawsey and Paul Kane reported. “One congressional official said it is difficult to quantify exactly how much aid the island has received to recover from Maria because of the way the money is disbursed.”
“The people of Puerto Rico are wonderful,” Trump tweeted last October, “but the inept politicians are trying to use the massive and ridiculously high amounts of hurricane/disaster funding to pay off other obligations.” That tweet came shortly after the $82 billion estimate referenced above.
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