Hurricane maria: Trump's tweets 🐦 and speech show no of empathy for Puerto Rico

Officials are calling the devastation in Puerto Rico a humanitarian disaster.

Six days after Hurricane Maria hit, millions are struggling for basic necessities like adequate food, water, fuel and electricity.

Eighty percent of the island's transmission lines are down, and power may not be restored for more than a month.

It took the president five full days to respond to the plight of the US territory.

When he finally did so on Monday night, his comments on Twitter were so devoid of empathy it threatened to spark new controversy.

Trump first said the U.S. territory's old electrical grid was "devastated." He also appeared critical of the island's financial problems, tweeting they owed "billions of dollars to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with."

Hot on the heels of the billowing dispute he single-handedly provoked over African American sporting figures protesting against racial inequality during the national anthem, Trump effectively blamed the islanders – all of whom are American citizens – for their own misfortune.

“Texas & Florida are doing great but Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble,” Trump wrote.

The following morning, the president spoke to reporters at the White House saying that next Tuesday would be the earliest feasible day to visit the island, due to the extent of the damage.

The island has been “literally destroyed”, Trump said, expressing confidence “they’ll be back”. The people of Puerto Rico “are important to all of us”, he said.

Later, at a press conference in the White House Rose Garden, he denied that he had been preoccupied with the NFL issue, insisting that the government has had “tremendous reviews” for its response, which now includes the military.

“We understand it’s a disaster, it’s a disaster that just happened,” he told reporters. “The grid was in bad shape before the storm and Puerto Rico didn’t get hit by one hurricane; it got hit by two hurricanes; and they were among the biggest we’ve ever seen."

UCJ, UNILORIN