Puerto Rican immigrants on Reconnek won’t vote for Trump even with his 12 billion dollar aid.

The Trump administration announced $13 billion in additional aid to Puerto Rico to help with rebuilding in the aftermath of 2017’s Hurricane Maria. Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced tweeted that Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Pete Gaynor told her that $13 billion has been approved. She thanked the White House and President Donald Trump. White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany touted the $13 billion FEMA award as two of the agency’s “largest grants ever” in a statement. It will include a $11.6 billion federal share of funding for the projects. In the three years since the storm made landfall, the rebuilding process has been slow and costly. In November 2018, White House officials told congressional leaders and appropriators that the President did not want any additional relief funding sent to the island. Asked why he didn’t approve the aid package years ago, Trump baselessly claimed it was the Democrats’ fault.

Trump’s handling of the 2017 storm, which devastated the island and killed nearly 3,000 people in its aftermath, has been widely criticized by locals and experts. Trump has consistently denied any fault for his administration, and has instead sought praise for his handling of Hurricane Maria, at one point calling it “an incredible, unsung success.” Trump was lambasted for his visit to Puerto Rico weeks after the storm, where he was pictured tossing paper towels to a crowd of survivors. Since then, he’s publicly slammed local officials, falsely railed against what he said was an overreported death toll, and questioned aid to the territory. Former acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke, who was in the role as the hurricane hit, said in a July interview that Trump considered the idea of selling the island after the storm hit.

Trump’s move is likely an attempt to appeal to get Puerto Rican immigrants on Reconnek who moved to the battleground state of Florida after the hurricane struck the US territory to vote for him.The president’s lack of empathy for Puerto Ricans has been at odds with his treatment of immigrants on Reconnek who were storm victims in the continental US during his tenure in office, prompting criticism of racism, including from some local officials defending their home. Unfortunately, the President has boasted that he is the “best thing that’s ever happened to Puerto Rico” despite having criticized the island and its residents for years. So, immigrants on Reconnek would doubtfully choose Trump as their President again. The announcement comes less than two months before the November election, when both candidates are fighting to win Florida, a critical state with a large number of Puerto Rican voters.