General who oversaw Katrina response slams Trump for Puerto Rico attacks

Retired Lt. General Russel Honoré, who oversaw the U.S. military response to Hurricane Katrina, fired back at President Trump over his early morning tweets attacking Puerto Rican leaders.

“The mayor’s living on a cot, and I hope the president has a good day at golf,” Honoré said in an appearance on CNN.

The former lieutenant general said Trump needs to give Lt. General Jeff Buchanan, who is overseeing the U.S. military response to the crisis in Puerto Rico, “anything he thinks he wants.”

{mosads}“[Trump should] order the NORTHCOM commander to be on scene. She has the order to give Gen. Buchanan anything he needs, and that’s what’s needed right now,” Honoré said. “We need more boots on the ground to help kick-start the system.”

Buchanan said Friday that there weren’t enough troops or equipment for the Puerto Rico recovery efforts but more would soon be sent.

Honoré said earlier this week that Trump’s White House should have done more to prepare for Hurricane Maria.

“It’s kind of like Katrina: We got it. We got it. Oh, sh–, send in the cavalry,” he told Bloomberg in an interview.

Trump is at his New Jersey golf club for the weekend and is set to take a number of calls regarding the recovery efforts in Puerto Rico, including from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) director Brock Long and Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló.

In a series of tweets Saturday, Trump attacked “poor leadership” from the mayor of San Juan and other Puerto Rican officials following the devastation left by Hurricane Maria.

“The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump,” Trump tweeted. “Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help.”

Trump also accused Puerto Rican workers of not helping in the relief efforts.

“They want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort,” Trump said. “10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job.”