Trump: “I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you’ve thrown our budget a little out of whack.”

Developments on Day 257 of the Trump Administration:

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Trump Minimizes Destruction and Proclaims Success in Puerto Rico

Trying to regain an image of Presidential authority after a series of mis-steps over a devastated Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, Donald Trump declares success on a PR tour of the island.

Trump, who was silent for days after the hurricane struck and who then turned against San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz over her plea for assistance in a “life-or-death story”, made a series of appearances on Wednesday in which he said the situation was a relative triumph compared to the “real catastrophe” of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Trump referred to “only” 16 confirmed deaths: “You can be very proud of all of your people, all of our people working together. Sixteen versus literally thousands of people. You can be very proud.”

Soon after Trump departed, Governor Ricardo Rosselló told a news conference in San Juan that the death toll had risen to 34.

But Trump had already made his photo opportunities with officials, singling out those like Rosselló who have refrained from criticism — and encouraging them to offer further praise — while not mentioning others like Cruz who were present.

Trump did greet Cruz before his statement, but he implicitly compared to her to Rosselló by asserting that the governor “did not play politics”.

And he had met some Puerto Rican residents at a relief center, throwing paper towels to them.

Trump: “You’ve Thrown Our Budget Out of Whack”

Even in the carefully-managed appearances, Trump offered further rhetorical hostages to criticism. As he praised Administration officials, including budget director Mick Mulvaney, he tried to quip, “I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you’ve thrown our budget a little out of whack. We’ve spent a lot of money on Puerto Rico.”

The statement echoes Trump’s tweets in which he initially blamed Puerto Rico’s debt and poor infrastructure for difficulties after the hurricane, and then suggested that the island would have to pay a way to help pay for the recovery.

Trump then made his comparison with the “real catastrophe” of Katrina and the damage in and near New Orleans.

Cruz said later that “the first part of the meeting” with Trump “was a public-relations situation”. She added that White House staff were helpful and receptive but Trump’s communications style sometimes “gets in the way”:

I would hope that the president of the United States stops spouting out comments that really hurt the people of Puerto Rico because, rather than commander in chief, he sort of becomes miscommunicator in chief.

But Trump would not be deterred from his litany of praise and self-praise. Having defied the crisis throughout last week — amid power outages; shortages of food, fuel, and supplies; and many people stranded because of washed-out roads and other obstacles — with a series of tweets announcing success, he told reporters:

In Texas and in Florida, we get an A-plus. And I’ll tell you what, I think we’ve done just as good in Puerto Rico.

Pence’s Chief of Staff Threatens “Purge” of GOP Lawmakers

Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff has threatened a purge of GOP legislators if they do not rally behind Donald Trump.

Speaking at a Republican National Committee event in Washington on Tuesday morning, Nick Ayers said, “Just imagine the possibilities of what can happen if our entire party unifies behind him? If — and this sounds crass — we can purge the handful of people who continue to work to defeat him.”

Asked how donors could “rally the congressional delegation that does support the President and Vice President, and rally them and push them to change the current leadership in both the Senate and the House”, Ayers responded:

I’m not speaking on behalf of the president or vice president when I say this. But if I were you, I would not only stop donating, I would form a coalition of all the other major donors, and just say two things. We’re definitely not giving to you, No. 1. And No. 2, if you don’t have this done by December 31, we’re going out, we’re recruiting opponents, we’re maxing out to their campaigns, and we’re funding super PACs [political action committees] to defeat all of you.

Because, look, if we’re going to be in the minority again, we might as well have a minority who are with us as opposed to the minority who helped us become a minority.

Attendees said the crowd laughed and burst into applause.

Hard-right activist Steve Bannon, dismissed as White House chief strategist in mid-August, has already declared “#WAR” on GOP legislators and groomed challengers to Republican incumbents in next year’s primaries.

Last month Bannon and his allies secured their first victory with the triumph of ultra-conservative judge Roy Moore over interim Senator Luther Strange, supported by the GOP’s Congressional leadership, in the Alabama primary to fill the seat of Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Kushner and Ivanka Re-Routed Personal E-Mails to Trump Organization Computers

Amid scrutiny of use of their personal e-mail for White House business, Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka have re-routed accounts to computers run by the Trump Organization.

The re-routing cames two or three days after Kushner’s use of a personal e-mail account for White House correspondence became public on September 24, following a request from Special Counsel Robert Mueller for records related to his Trump-Russia investigation.

See Kushner Used Private E-mail Account for White House Business

A spokesman for Kushner and Ivanka Trump, said couple’s personal email “does not reside and never has resided in, nor passed through, through the Trump Organization e-mail server”. Instead, he insisted, Kushner and Trump had used a “filtering service” to block viruses and malware.

Last wee the leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee told Kushner they were “concerned” that they had heard about the e-mails in news reports. They asked him to turn over copies of documents from the e-mail account and from all other accounts and messaging services.

Interior Department Investigating Secretary Zinke’s Use of Government-Funded Jets

The Interior Department has opened an investigation into Secretary Ryan Zinke’s use of taxpayer-funded charter planes.

The spokeswoman for the department’s Office of the Inspector General, Nancy DiPaolo, said the watchdog launched its investigation late last week after “received numerous complaints”.

Zinke is the latest Cabinet member to face scrutiny. Health Secretary Tom Price resigned last Friday over expenditure of more than $400,000 on about two dozen chartered flights, despite his belated offer to repay just under $52,000. Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin and Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt have also used military aircraft or government-funded charters.

Zinke on aircraft owned or chartered by the government several times this year, including for a $12,000 trip from Las Vegas to an airport near his hometown in Montana and for another trip in the Caribbean.

The Las Vegas journey came after Zinke missed a commercial flight to Montana, because he was appearing at an event affiliated with a donor who has given nearly $200,000 to Zinke’s past congressional campaigns.