President Trump said Wednesday he saved a storm-ravaged military base in Florida and plans to help the panhandle fully recover from Hurricane Michael, though accused Capitol Hill Democrats and “unfair” Puerto Rican leaders of holding up additional aid.
Speaking to supporters, Mr. Trump used a one-page bar chart to argue red states loyal to him have been shafted while Puerto Rico has enjoyed generous help, after Hurricane Maria ravaged the island territory.
Democrats say the island deserves more funds, leading to an impasse over a broader bill that would help Midwest and southern states battered by other disasters.
“We need Democrats in Congress to work with us,” Mr. Trump said at the rally in Panama City Beach, Florida. “It’s getting close.”
“You’re getting your money, one way or another,” he told Floridians who will be crucial to his reelection chances in 2020.
Mr. Trump won the state in 2016, though he’s working to solidify support in the state that’s built a reputation for razor-thin electoral margins.
Mr. Trump’s appeal for a bipartisan work on disaster relief contrasted sharply with bitter feelings back in Washington, where House Democrats moved to hold his attorney general in contempt and are firing off subpoenas to learn more about special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian meddling.
The president said his record is pristine, citing a hard line on Venezuela, a robust jobs’ market and his push to rip up the “estate tax” and gut Obamacare’s individual mandate in the GOP tax overhaul.
He complained about Sen. John McCain’s vote against an Obamacare repeal bill — though not by name — and vowed to finish the job on health reform.
Mr. Trump also complained about Puerto Rico, saying its leaders have been unfair to him despite receiving “$91 billion” in aid.
It’s a number he cites as if that amounts has gone to the island already, though fact-checkers say he appears to be adding estimates of future liabilities to the amount that’s made it to the island.
“It’s the most money we’ve given to anybody,” Mr. Trump said, before complaining about island leaders who’ve criticized him. “It hasn’t been fair how they’ve treated us.”
Prior to the rally, Mr. Trump was joined by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican ally, and other Florida officials at Tyndall Air Force Base, which was badly damaged in the Category 5 hurricane.
“Category 5 is big stuff,” Mr. Trump said. “It got beat up badly, it got beat.”
He said the base will come back stronger, house F-35 jets and employ more people, enthusing the swing-state crowd.
Mr. Trump said he plans to extend $448 million in Department of Housing and Urban Development disaster-recovery funds to the area, despite the standoff in Congress.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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