WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump says he thinks the federal government did a “fantastic job in Puerto Rico” despite the deaths of nearly 3,000 people after Hurricane Maria.
Trump tells reporters at the White House Wednesday that, “We’ve put a lot of money and a lot of effort into Puerto Rico.”
READ MORE: Death toll from Puerto Rico’s Hurricane Maria raised from 64 to almost 3,000
He says he thinks “most of the people of Puerto Rico really appreciate what we’ve done.”
![Click to play video: 'Still no confirmed death toll from Hurricane Maria as number jumps from 64 to nearly 3,000 in Puerto Rico'](https://i0.wp.com/media.globalnews.ca/videostatic/941/939/hurricanelatest.jpg?w=1040&quality=70&strip=all)
The U.S. territory’s governor this week raised the official death toll from Hurricane Maria from 64 to 2,975 – almost twice the government’s previous estimate.
![Click to play video: 'Puerto Rico concedes Hurricane Maria killed over 1,400 people despite official death toll pegged at 14'](https://i0.wp.com/media.globalnews.ca/videostatic/432/991/puertorico.jpg?w=1040&quality=70&strip=all)
Trump is pointing to the island’s pre-existing financial and infrastructure challenges, but is falsely claiming its electric plant “was dead” and “shut” before Maria hit.
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READ MORE: Power restored to all of Puerto Rico for first time in 11 months
Puerto Rico’s Electric Power Authority is more than $9 billion in debt, but was operating.
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