Trump Complains Puerto Rico Getting ‘Too Much’ Disaster Aid as More Than 1 Million Face Food Crisis

Trump’s remarks came during a private lunch with Republicans Tuesday, during which — according to the Washington Post — the president inflated the amount of aid Puerto Rico has received since Hurricane Maria and pushed lawmakers to limit funding to the island.

“At the lunch Tuesday, Trump rattled off the amount of aid that had been designated for other disaster-hit states and compared it with the amount allocated for Puerto Rico following the 2017 hurricane, which he said was too high,” the Post reported.

After claiming that Puerto Rico has received billion in federal aid — it is unclear where he got this number — Trump reportedly said “one could buy Puerto Rico four times over for billion.”

Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló responded with outrage to Trump’s reported comments in a statement late Tuesday.

“People from all over the nation, and the world, have witnessed the inequalities Americans face on the island,” Rosselló said. “The federal response and its treatment during these past months in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria is clear evidence of our second-class citizenship.”

“Mr. President: Enough with the insults and demeaning characterizations,” he added. “We are not asking for anything more than any other U.S. state has received. We are merely asking for equality.”

Trump’s complaint about aid to the storm-ravaged island comes as an estimated 1.3 million Puerto Ricans — including hundreds of thousands of children and elderly people — have had life-saving food aid cut amid inaction and obstruction from the White House and congressional Republicans.

“We just don’t have the money right now,” said Myrna Izquierdo, an administrator at a Puerto Rican health clinic that relies on food stamp funding. “It’s very hard. It is so unfair. That cut is going to kill us.”