Trump Gives Himself a 10 Out of 10 on Puerto Rico Storm Recovery

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump Thursday said his administration’s response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico deserves a perfect “10” rating as he met at the White House with the U.S. territory’s governor, Ricardo Rossello.

“I think we’ve done a really great job,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with Rossello, who is in Washington to press for disaster aid for the island.

Rating the White House’s handling of the storm on a scale of 1 to 10, Trump said, “I give ourselves a 10,” because “we have provided so much so fast.”

Rosello sidestepped a question from a reporter on how he would rate the administration’s response.

When Trump followed up by asking him, “Did we do a great job?” Rossello answered: “You responded immediately, sir.”

Four weeks after the hurricane struck Puerto Rico, 22 percent of the island’s residents have electricity and 72 percent have access to drinkable water, according to a website set up by the U.S. commonwealth tracking recovery efforts.

Brock Long, the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, who also attended the meeting, said federal authorities are focusing on restoring essential services and rebuilding the power grid first in six major municipalities on the island.

Rossello is seeking as much as $4.6 billion in short-term relief and a long-term package to help repair the island, according to a statement from the governor’s office.

Rossello is also set to meet with Vice-President Mike Pence, budget director Mick Mulvaney, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer.

The Senate Thursday may pass a hurricane and wildfire relief bill that would give Puerto Rico access to $4.9 billion in low-interest Treasury loans, Senator Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican, said on Bloomberg TV. The House approved the measure last week. Rossello’s administration has warned that it may run out of cash by the end of October.