Former U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance Chief BLASTS Trump Response To Puerto Rico

By Red Painter — October 1, 2017

Donald Trump (and his handful of supporters) have defended his pathetic response to the devastation in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. Reports coming from Puerto Rico dispute everything Trump has said. Trump's response to criticism from the Mayor of San Juan was to lash out over Twitter. Disgusting.

Well, enter the former head of the United States Foreign Disaster Assistance unit. And wow, did he have some thoughts to share. Mind you, this man has oodles of experience in how to prepare, respond to and address a litany of needs related to disasters worldwide. He knows what he is talking about. Here were his tweets, with no comments needed:

This is the best tick-tock I've seen on White House mgmt of Puerto Rico response. And it is so, so, so damning. 1/ https://t.co/29Zoqf9E2s

— Jeremy Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) September 30, 2017

I've tried to be balanced re: Trump's handling of PR, incl in my piece today, b/c I know how hard this stuff is. 2/ https://t.co/rCBXmh5KfR

— Jeremy Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) September 30, 2017

But WaPo report tonight makes that impossible. Confirms worst suspicions. Clear that WH took their eye off the ball at the worst moment. 3/

— Jeremy Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) September 30, 2017

The 2-3 days immediately after a major event are critical; that's when you gauge damage in order to calibrate response. 4/

— Jeremy Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) September 30, 2017

During that critical window, rather than shaping response, POTUS was at golf club. Even held work mtgs; but not on PR. 5/ pic.twitter.com/RaUr5UMKJR

— Jeremy Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) September 30, 2017

Senior admin officials didn't visit PR to assess situation first-hand until 5 days post storm. Inexcusable. 6/ pic.twitter.com/SR6OfI8kFh

— Jeremy Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) September 30, 2017

Tellingly, what set Trump off and spurred his attention was not briefings - it was bad tv coverage. 7/ pic.twitter.com/WYkkb3Ekrg

— Jeremy Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) September 30, 2017

He didn't hold a high level meeting on the storm response until Tuesday - SIX DAYS after landfall. This is disaster mgmt malpractice. 8/

— Jeremy Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) September 30, 2017

And it has become clearer and clearer that response hasn't had the resources and people it needs - as DoD is now admitting. pic.twitter.com/23Llq6Wyzc

— Jeremy Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) September 30, 2017

Why do I call this malpractice? Because they had all the tools they needed to see this for what it was; if only they'd paid attention. 10/

— Jeremy Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) September 30, 2017

Storm played out exactly as forecast. Was clear it would be devastating, and it was. And then....the President left things on autopilot. 11/

— Jeremy Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) September 30, 2017

And that has had real, tangible, harmful consequences for the speed and effectiveness of the response. 12/

— Jeremy Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) September 30, 2017

It makes me so mad I could spit. 13/

— Jeremy Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) September 30, 2017

FEMA staff deserve better. DoD staff deserve better. And most of all, the people of Puerto Rico deserve better. This is not leadership. /end

— Jeremy Konyndyk (@JeremyKonyndyk) September 30, 2017

And, scene.