# data[].attributes.headline
Headline: Trump Distraught Over Failure to Hit Back Row With Paper Towel Toss

# data[].attributes.subject
Headline: Trump Distraught Over Failure to Hit Back Row With Paper Towel Toss

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
President Trump was reportedly despondent over his failure to "hit the back row" during his paper towel toss to a gathered church crowd in hurricane ravaged Puerto Rico.

Trump shook his head in shameful defeat as loops of his paper towel tosses repeated on a TV screen. "I'm the President of the United States. If I can't hit the back row how's that look to the rest of the world? How am I supposed to inspire confidence with that?" the deceptively apparent grown man opined between bites of McDonald's comfort food as Nas's "Life's a Bitch" played in the background.

"Trump doesn't do anything unless it's bigly," He said as he glared daggers at his Chief of Staff John Kelly as food particle spittle sprayed on the Presidential Seal on the table.

"You don't make the Sports Center highlight reel without back row hits!" the Commander in Chief of the most powerful military ever created in the history of humanity screeched as he slammed his soft hand on the table.

Grimacing in pain as he massaged his now injured hand Trump continued "And what was with that off brand paper towel they had out there? Trump tosses Brawny or nothing. And did we get any sponsorship money from Brawny? Nope. You know why? Tell 'em Bannon," Trump, the man with the authority to launch a nuclear strike without prior Congressional approval, said to John Kelly mistakenly referring to him as Steve Bannon, former White House Chief Strategist who was the only person sitting in on the conversation.

"Because Brawny only sponsors back row hitters," said John Kelly in a hallow voice possessed by a man who now questioned if his decades of service to his nation were nothing but cruel vanity.

For twenty soul crushing minutes Trump went on a verbal tirade rationalizing his failure to deliver on his perceived paper towel tossing shortcomings. Everything from the thickness of the roll, to the grip of the packaging and the air density brought on by "all that water" were factored into Trump's harangue.

Clutching multiple briefing packets, some months old, Kelly subtly tried to shift the conversation. "Yes Mr. President. And we'll certainly look into that, but if we can discuss the relief efforts in-,"

"My wife was right there!" Trump said gesturing to an empty chair. "How can I be a man, if I can't even hit the back row? Definitely won't be able to hit Melania's back row! Not after that effort." said the man who received close to 63 million votes even after he expressed a fondness for grabbing women by the pussy.

Loosening his tie which draped to his knees Trump slumped in his chair and shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe I'm saying this but... it's my fault. I didn't prepare for what needed to be done, and now here we are."

For a moment John Kelly's flicker hope blazed at the possibility of the POTUS experiencing a moment of self-realization, the arrival of a Zen satori like moment that could perhaps lead to a reaffirmation in his faith that all wasn't indeed lost. "

Get that Lebron on the phone. I know we've had our differences but I gotta get a handle on this. I'll get better. I will hit that back row!" Trump said with a misplaced affirmed determination as he stood up smearing his loose tie in a portion of the unused ketchup on his plate.

"Yes Mr. President but maybe we should focus on other things?," suggested Kelly.

"Maybe you're right Steve. Maybe I should go with a quarterback. You think that Kaepernick guy is available? You can tell him I don't care if he takes a knee as long as he can help get this situation under control!" said the man who left an island full of American citizens, that was still without power, and in desperate need of support from the "most powerful nation on earth".

"We'll get right on it Mr. President," said Kelly as he looked out the window at the navy blue ocean below and wondered what respite he find might in its embrace.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Trump Distraught Over Failure to Hit Back Row With Paper Towel Toss

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
President Trump was reportedly despondent over his failure to "hit the back row" during his paper towel toss to a gathered church crowd in hurricane ravaged Puerto Rico. Trump shook his head in shameful defeat as loops of his paper towel tosses repeated on a TV screen.

# data[].attributes.headline
Headline: Party Boy Donald Throws Paper Towels to Disaster Victims

# data[].attributes.subject
Headline: Party Boy Donald Throws Paper Towels to Disaster Victims

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
If there's anything President Donald Trump knows, it's how to find the silver lining in horrendous situations that are made worse through his own failings. His visit to Puerto Rico has been full of stately proclamations on how the natural disaster his administration seems unable to handle is upsetting his budget (ha ha!) and hasn't caused nearly enough death to be so upset about (an interesting point!).

Now, perhaps understanding that his sage wisdom and very hilarious jokes aren't enough to ease the suffering of the millions in need of food, water, and electricity, the Trumpster is using a new tactic in his fight to help the people of Puerto Rico: getting the dang party started.

Here's the man himself, knowing that a ceremonial distribution of supplies doesn't need to be solemn and choosing instead to toss out paper towels to a church gathering in Guaynabo like your boss sinking garbage-bin free throws on casual Friday.

And again, working the crowd some more by making sure those around him remember to cheer up and enjoy themselves a little. After all, what is a president but the host of that great big cocktail party we call a nation?

Waves of Debbie Downers have taken to Twitter to condemn Trump's behavior, pointing out the ways in which it's totally offensive. What a bunch of squares!

If you, unlike the actual president of the United States, think the devastation of an American territory is important enough to take seriously, PBS NewsHour has created a guide with practical suggestions on how to help. Trump's too busy getting the margarita machine fired up to think about much else.

About the author

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Party boy Donald throws paper towels to disaster victims

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
If there's anything President Donald Trump knows, it's how to find the silver lining in horrendous situations that are made worse through his own failings. His visit to Puerto Rico has been full of stately proclamations on how the natural disaster his administration seems unable to handle is upsetting his budget (ha ha!)

# data[].attributes.headline
Headline: WTF? Trump Hurls Paper Towels, Tells Puerto Ricans to have a good time

# data[].attributes.subject
Headline: WTF? Trump Hurls Paper Towels, Tells Puerto Ricans to have a good time

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Real News 24: Breaking Alternative News Source

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
By: Claire Bernish/ The Mind Unleashed If there exists a positive light in which to paint the behavior and attitude of President of the United States on his tour of decimated and desperate Puerto Rico, this journalist couldn't find it.

In fact, Donald Trump succeeded in doing his level best to not only insult the more than 3.4 million U.S. citizens on the island, but inexplicably downplay the undeniable extent and massive scope of the catastrophe wrought by Hurricane Maria - despite ongoing lack of water, power, and food to an estimated 95 of the populace.

"We have gone all out for Puerto Rico," Trump boasted of the U.S. disaster response - in definitive contrast to pleas for assistance and damning criticism proffered by San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz on a near daily basis - adding wearily, "It's not only dangerous, it's expensive."

Yes, that's right - the president bitched about the cost of saving American citizens' lives. But he didn't stop with a single, snide jab.

"I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you are throwing our budget out of whack," Trump continued, unfiltered. "We've spent a lot of money in Puerto Rico, and that's fine. We saved a lot of lives."

Alarmingly, Trump's bellyaching over finances - perplexing, given the nascence of recovery - comes down to a death count. And the president doesn't seem to feel Puerto Ricans have room to gripe - at least, not when it comes to statistics - or, the perception of statistics.

"If you look at the - every death is a horror," continued the president, "but if you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina and you look at the tremendous hundreds and hundreds of people that died and what happened here with a storm that was just totally overbearing. No one has ever seen anything like that. What is your death count?"

"Sixteen," replied Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló.

"Sixteen people certified. Sixteen people versus in the thousands," Trump asserted, telling Puerto Ricans and officials they should be "proud" - perhaps of the deceptively small number of dead, although that wasn't entirely clear.

After the strained and amateurish briefing, Trump visited some of the hurricane's millions of victims, reassuring them his administration indeed would continue to help - a point up for debate, given the lack of water and power to most of the island and life-saving supplies reportedly moored, stuck in red tape, more than a week after the storm laid waste to Puerto Rico.

"We're going to help you out," he vowed, ruining the sentiment with, "have a good time."

At one point in the tour of the stricken island, the leader of the so-called Free World tossed paper towels to a crowd gathered in a church to receive aid - an altogether strange affair as awkward in print as it is on recorded video:

There's video of Trump shooting paper towels into the crowd and it does not disappoint pic.twitter.com/KPfJ1AeAqk

- Caleb Ecarma (@calebecarma) October 3, 2017

All of Trump's theatrics and hot air - however distasteful - couldn't hold a candle to the potential harm rendered policy by his administration in another blow to Puerto Rico's relief.

Coinciding with the president's grade-school complaints about cost is a report from The Hill, which - for all intents and purposes - foments Trump's hot air into a potentially life-threatening refusal to allow expanded options for, in many cases, literally starving Puerto Ricans, stating:
"Rosselló says the federal government has denied the U.S. territory's request for its citizens to redeem food stamps for ready-to-eat hot meals, amid widespread food shortages and power outages in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria."
Nearly 40 percent of the populace, or 1.3 million people, rely on food assistance from the government - but Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) does not allow the purchase of fast food, or hot, prepared meals, as one would have served in a restaurant.

Never mind the situation has devolved into one of abject chaos in many areas, that people have literally died from lack of medicine, that potable water isn't available, and groceries aren't a simple trip to the store, when many do not have power - nor incoming stock to fill the shelves.

A hot meal - any meal - could save a life, or stave off desperation.

Trump, apparently, does not find the tragedy happening to (U.S. citizen) Puerto Ricans 'on par' with the suffering of Katrina's victims - as if calamities should ever be rated prejudicially.

Meanwhile, most Puerto Ricans remain unaware of Trump's insults and lackadaisical attitude - they're too preoccupied with survival, waiting for the FEMA aid that has yet to reach them.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
WTF? Trump Hurls Paper Towels, Tells Puerto Ricans To Have A Good Time

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
By: Claire Bernish/The Mind Unleashed If there exists a positive light in which to paint the behavior and attitude of President of the United States on his tour of decimated and desperate Puerto Rico, this journalist couldn't find it. In fact, Donald Trump succeeded in doing his level best to not only insult the more than 3.4 million...

# data[].attributes.headline
Headline: Trump defends 'beautiful, soft towels..."

# data[].attributes.subject
Headline: Trump defends 'beautiful, soft towels..."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Donald Trump seemed to enjoy his briefing in Puerto Rico last week, and it's easy to understand why. The president got to host an event where people took turns praising him; he congratulated himself on an " incredible" job well done; and he chided Puerto Rico for interfering with the U.S. budget, before telling locals they didn't suffer a "real catastrophe."

But perhaps the indelible image from Trump's brief visit to the island was watching him lob paper towels to locals as if he were having fun shooting free throws.

As the Toronto Star's Daniel Dale noted, this was a moment the president was eager to defend when he sat down with Mike Huckabee, who now has a new show on a Christian cable network.

U.S. President Donald Trump lashed out at the "fake" journalists who criticized him for tossing rolls of paper towel to Puerto Rican hurricane victims.

The paper towels, he said, were beautiful. And soft.

"They had these beautiful, soft towels. Very good towels," Trump said in a conversation that aired Sunday on Christian television network Trinity Broadcasting. "And I came in and there was a crowd of a lot of people. And they were screaming and they were loving everything. I was having fun, they were having fun. They said, 'Throw 'em to me! Throw 'em to me, Mr. President!'"

These towels were amazing. Incredible. They were just tremendous. They were quite possibly the paper-towel equivalent of the chocolate cake served at Trump's luxury golf resort in Florida.

And let's not forget, for an island devastated by a hurricane, with residents struggling without electricity or potable water, "beautiful, soft towels" are no doubt in high demand.

We also learned during the interview that Trump believes:

* the "filibuster rule" prevented Republicans from passing a health care bill, which still isn't even close to being true;

* Iran is " funding " North Korea, a claim for which he's offered no proof;

* he created the word "fake";

* the Middle East is "much less of a mess now" thanks to himself;

* the Las Vegas gunman was "a sick person, but probably smart";

* and repealing the Affordable Care Act, sending block grants to states instead, would mean Trump could stop focusing on "fixing somebody's back or their knee."

This was a timely reminder of why the president rarely does interviews with journalists from major, independent news organizations. Real reporters might be inclined to ask follow-up questions and press Trump after plainly ridiculous answers. Mike Huckabee, meanwhile, whose daughter is the president's press secretary, touted Trump as a "rock star."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Trump defends 'beautiful, soft towels' he tossed to Puerto Ricans

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Donald Trump seemed to enjoy his briefing in Puerto Rico last week, and it's easy to understand why. The president got to host an event where people took turns praising him; he congratulated himself on an " incredible" job well done; and he chided Puerto Rico for interfering with the U.S.

# data[].attributes.headline
Headline: Trump Lobs Praise, and Paper Towels to Puerto Rico Storm Victims 

# data[].attributes.subject
Headline: Trump Lobs Praise, and Paper Towels to Puerto Rico Storm Victims 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
And like his earlier travels, it had its peculiar moments: He also gently tossed rolls of paper towels into a crowd that gathered to see him at Calvary Chapel, outside the island's capital, San Juan.

This time, however, Mr. Trump flew into a different kind of turbulence. Over the weekend, the president lashed out at the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz, after she complained that the federal response in Puerto Rico had fallen short of the responses in Texas and Florida. She was not mollified after meeting him.

"The first part of the meeting was a public-relations situation," Ms. Cruz said in an interview with CNN about the briefing she attended with the president. While she said the White House staff was helpful and receptive, Mr. 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," she said, "because, rather than commander in chief, he sort of becomes miscommunicator in chief."

Mr. Trump greeted the mayor but did not invite her to speak, recognizing instead Mr. Rosselló, who the president said "did not play politics," and Puerto Rico's congressional representative, who lavishly applauded the administration's performance.

"Thank you, Mr. President, for all you have been doing for the island," said Jenniffer González-Colón, the territory's nonvoting representative, who declared that Washington had sent everything Puerto Rico needed.

"You were really generous," Mr. Trump replied. "It's so important when you have men and women that have worked so hard and so long, and many of them came from two other catastrophic hurricanes."

The president then went around the briefing table, praising the director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, military commanders and a half-dozen members of his cabinet who accompanied him to Puerto Rico - which was already facing about $74 billion in debt even before the hurricane hit.

In singling out Mick Mulvaney, his budget director, Mr. Trump said, "I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you've thrown our budget a little out of whack." Looking around the room for his chief of staff, John F. Kelly, who was standing in the back, Mr. Trump said, "Boy, is he watching."

Before leaving the White House on Tuesday, Mr. Trump told reporters he believed Ms. Cruz was now mostly satisfied.

"I think she's come back a long way," he said. "I think it's now acknowledged what a great job we've done." He asserted that the relief effort was as effective as those in Texas and Florida, and he added, "It's actually a much tougher situation."

Mr. Trump, however, repeated his earlier criticism that some Puerto Ricans were not doing enough to help themselves. Despite the roads being cleared and communications being re-established, he said, truck drivers were not transporting enough supplies. "We need their truck drivers to start driving trucks," he said. "On a local level, they have to give us more help."

On Saturday, after Ms. Cruz angrily disputed the administration's assertion that the relief effort was going well, the president fired back in a Twitter post that she had been instructed by Democrats to be "nasty to Trump," and added that Puerto Ricans "want everything to be done for them."

White House officials were nervous that Mr. Trump would be set off again if he were greeted by protesters in Puerto Rico. As late as Monday afternoon, some aides were urging the president to delay the visit, which came a day before he was scheduled to fly to Las Vegas to meet with law enforcement officials and victims of Sunday's mass shooting there.

There were a few other signs of discontent on Tuesday. As Mr. Trump's motorcade drove from an air base to a church - passing hundreds of downed trees - it also passed a woman clutching a placard that said, "You are a bad hombre," according to a pool report.

Sitting in a traffic jam near the San Juan airport before the arrival of Air Force One, a resident, Jaime Vega, disputed Mr. Trump's claim that Puerto Ricans should be doing more to help their own recovery. "We are doing," he said. "It's only now that they are doing something."

"Let him come so he can see what there really is, and so nobody can tell him made-up stories," said Mr. Vega, an accountant.

Outside a bar in the Santurce neighborhood of San Juan, an hour after Air Force One departed Tuesday afternoon, people debated what Mr. Trump's visit might have accomplished.

"He was just measuring Puerto Rico by the amount of dead compared to Katrina," said José Tormos, 62, an employee of the local government in Guaynabo. "FEMA's response has been too slow."

Even before the death toll was increased on Tuesday evening, others noted that the actual number of people killed by Hurricane Maria may rise significantly, given that the earlier, certified tally was outdated and that the island government's record-keeping ability has been damaged by the storm. Mr. Rosselló said 19 of the total 34 deaths so far were directly related to the storm, like drownings. The others included electrical failures of oxygen tanks, suicides and natural causes like heart attacks, he said.

Marlene Martinez, 51, an accountant, said, "It's just an example of how we're treated like second-class citizens."

Others were more concerned about the reconstruction of the island and their own precarious situations than Mr. Trump's comments.

"The people of Puerto Rico don't care whether Trump is the god or the devil," said Edgardo Tormos, 58. "This is about the recovery of Puerto Rico."

Still, others seemed happy just to have the president in their midst. In a 20-minute visit to Calvary Chapel, an English-speaking evangelical church that has become a collection center for supplies, Mr. Trump shook hands, took selfies and offered encouragement in the chapel's sanctuary.

"For us, it's really nothing political," said Naitsa Marrero, an administrative assistant who helped organize the stop. "Puerto Rico needs help, and often this type of thing sheds light on what's happening here - a crisis."

Jason Dennett, the church's pastor, said he welcomed the idea of a visit when the Secret Service contacted him five days ago. "He offered his help to the people of Puerto Rico," Mr. Dennett said. "He said he was here to help and that the support would continue."

Mr. Trump boarded a Navy amphibious assault ship for meetings with the governors of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands. The White House asked the Virgin Islands's governor, Kenneth E. Mapp, to fly to Puerto Rico because of the logistical complications of flying the president to those islands, parts of which have been severely damaged.

Still, Mr. Mapp told him, "because of your commitment, Mr. President, we're talking about opening schools and welcoming cruise ships back."

Mr. Trump has gotten used to being a kind of second responder, having traveled to Texas and Florida after two other hurricanes over the past two months. Since the weekend, Mr. Trump has sharply scaled back his Twitter posts about the hurricanes or other potentially charged issues.

But speaking to reporters on Tuesday, he continued to emphasize the government's performance rather than the plight of the victims.

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

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Trump Lobs Praise, and Paper Towels, to Puerto Rico Storm Victims

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
And like his earlier travels, it had its peculiar moments: He also gently tossed rolls of paper towels into a crowd that gathered to see him at Calvary Chapel, outside the island's capital, San Juan. This time, however, Mr. Trump flew into a different kind of turbulence.

# data[].attributes.headline
Headline: Could Donald Trump Have Been Any More Condescending to the People of Puerto Rico?

# data[].attributes.subject
Headline: Could Donald Trump Have Been Any More Condescending to the People of Puerto Rico?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
For some reason, watching President Trump's visit to Puerto Rico on Tuesday brought to mind the scene in Charles Dickens' "Tale of Two Cities" in which the Marquis St. Evrémonde runs over a child with his carriage and without remorse or compassion declares, "It is extraordinary to me that you people cannot take care of yourselves and your children!" He throws a coin at the grieving father and another into the crowd, and as he moves on, one of the peasants on the street throws a coin back in the carriage, at which point the Marquis turns in anger and threatens to "exterminate" them all. The peasants hang their heads and say not a word, knowing what power the man has to destroy them.

Donald Trump didn't throw coins into the crowd in Puerto Rico, but he did throw Bounty paper towels. And he didn't scold the island's people to their faces for failing to take care of their children, but he didn't need to. He'd made it clear in his tweets that he thought Puerto Ricans had refused to help themselves because "they want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort."

Officials on the ground wisely behaved much as Dickens' peasants did. They kept their eyes down and parroted the president as he complimented his own leadership over and over again. This was more like an audience with the king, not a visit from a democratically elected leader who had come to forge a personal connection to what had happened.

Trump first insisted that the hurricane had hit exactly a week earlier, which wasn't even close. It made landfall two weeks ago today. Maybe he'd lost track of time, but it's more likely that this was a conscious lie to cover up the fact that his administration's response has been so slow and so inadequate.

It only got worse from there. Trump unctuously lauded his administration, starting with himself, of course. Then he went down the list, starting with FEMA director Brock Long, whom he gave an A-plus. He thanked Acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke and DHS adviser Tom Bossert and praised his "fantastic general," Jeffrey Buchanan, saying, "No doubt about it. You are a general. No games."

He thanked Jenniffer González-Colón, Puerto Rico's nonvoting congressional representative, for "saying such nice things" about him. (She is also the state chair of Puerto Rico's Republican Party.) He lavished praise on Puerto Rico's governor, Ricardo Rosselló, because he "did not play politics" when "he was giving us the highest grades."

He thanked all the branches of the military in florid terms, although when he got to the Coast Guard there was this weird moment:

Trump: What a job the Coast Guard has done throughout this whole - [inaudible] They would go right into the middle of it. I want to thank the Coast Guard.

They are special people. A lot of people got to see the real Coast Guard in this trouble. In Texas was incredible for what they did. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Would you like to say something on behalf of your men and women?

Unidentified: I'm representing the Air Force.

Trump: I know that.

I'm going to guess that that Air Force representative received a tongue-lashing for that impudent remark.

Trump also celebrated the fact that, according to him, the Category 5 Hurricane Maria that hit Puerto Rico wasn't a "real disaster" like Hurricane Katrina. He asked the governor, "What's your death count?" When Rosselló told him 16 people have been confirmed dead so far, the president smugly replied, "Sixteen people versus in the thousands. You can be... very proud of what's taken place."

We know Trump is very proud of the whole effort. He tells anyone who will listen what a great job he's done and was happy to listen to local officials as they told him the same thing. And they did. One after the other expressed their deepest gratitude for his tremendous efforts.

He didn't ask the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulín Cruz, to say anything, needless to say. She doesn't understand that the peasants must flatter and fawn if they wish to have bread and water. (He did shake Cruz's hand earlier in the visit and she told him, "It's not about politics," at which point he reared up and haughtily turned away.)

The president is clearly annoyed that this relief effort is going to cost money. In fact, he can't stop talking about that. He has mentioned the island's debt and the cost every time he's addressed the disaster, and he didn't forget to do it on this occasion, saying, "I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, you've thrown our budget a little out of whack. We've spent a lot of money on Puerto Rico." He generously added that it was "fine" because they were saving lives, which is mighty big of him.

I don't recall Trump complaining about the money it cost for hurricane relief in Texas and Florida. In fact, Trump wanted it so much he was even willing to make a deal with "Chuck and Nancy" to get it done. This one seems to be a bit less urgent for some reason.

He finished the self-congratulatory photo-op and ring kissing ceremony and traveled around San Juan for a short tour, ending up in a church where they were delivering some supplies. He took selfies with the locals and then started throwing those paper towels into the crowd as if he were Elvis tossing one of his sweat-soaked scarves to the swooning ladies in the audience.

Afterwards, he actually said, "There was a lot of love in that room."

Mingling with the peasants is something he believes makes them feel uncomfortable. He once said:

I'm sitting in an apartment the likes of which nobody's ever seen. And yet I represent the workers of the world. And they love me and I love them. I think people aspire to do things. And they aspire to watch people. I don't think they want to see the president carrying his luggage out of Air Force One. And that's pretty much the way it is.

He believes people want to admire him from a distance, see him as bigger than life, as one anointed to leadership by dint of genetic destiny and special talent. But once in a while an ingrate will toss the coin he generously sent their way back in his carriage and he gets angry. If you need something from the king, you'd better tell him how great he is and then ask very, very nicely.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Could Donald Trump Have Been Any More Condescending to the People of Puerto Rico?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
He came. He saw. He mangled the facts and threw Bounty paper towels to the crowd. "There was a lot of love." For some reason, watching President Trump's visit to Puerto Rico on Tuesday brought to mind the scene in Charles Dickens' "Tale of Two Cities" in which the Marquis St.

# data[].attributes.headline
Headline: Trump, Throwing Paper Towels At Puerto Ricans, Says “Now Go Clean Up Your Mess”

# data[].attributes.subject
Headline: Trump, Throwing Paper Towels At Puerto Ricans, Says “Now Go Clean Up Your Mess”

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
President Trump visited Puerto Rico on Tuesday and after insulting the governor, icing out the mayor of San Juan, scolding residents for throwing his budget "out of whack," and fishing for compliments, he lobbed rolls of paper towels into the outstretched hands of storm-stricken residents.

"These are Bounty paper towels, folks, the quicker picker upper," barked the president. "Nothing on the market compares to it for absorbing floodwaters, so grab a roll, get out to those muddy streets, and mop up - it's time to start helping yourselves."

According to the White House, Mr. Trump signed a deal over the weekend with Procter & Gamble, the maker of Bounty, with an understanding that he would distribute one million rolls of the highly-absorbent paper towel in Puerto Rico while visiting the island.

Asked if it was unusual for a president to promote a commercial paper product while in office, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, "Look, we have a job to do down there and Bounty was willing to help us out. The president is all about results, not fussy rules or formal laws, and his Bounty contract is going to dramatically help accelerate the clean-up - that's what really matters to the distressed, dirty residents of Puerto Rico right now."

Ms. Sanders was asked why the president felt it was more important to put paper towels in the hands of the Puerto Rican people, rather than badly needed food, water, and medical supplies.

"I think I've already answered that question," she responded curtly. "Because business is business and Bounty is very good business for the president right now."

Ms. Sanders added that President Trump was also working on a deal with Cheetos, Doritos, and Vienna Lady Fingers, "but was not able to sign a final agreement before he arrived in Puerto Rico, so the people had to settle for canned meat."

P resident Trump capped off his trip to the ravaged U.S. territory by telling one distraught resident before he left, "Have a good time."

****
If this post made you laugh or cry out for a real president, please click the heart, comment, and/or follow me. I promise to read every comment. And Thank you! -AI click here or here to read two of my most popular past posts - or at least ones that I enjoyed writing a whole lot and I hope you'll enjoy reading.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Trump, Throwing Paper Towels At Puerto Ricans, Says "Now Go Clean Up Your Mess"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
President Trump visited Puerto Rico on Tuesday and after insulting the governor, icing out the mayor of San Juan, scolding residents for throwing his budget "out of whack," and fishing for compliments, he lobbed rolls of paper towels into the outstretched hands of storm-stricken residents.

# data[].attributes.headline
Headline: 'I was having fun' throwing paper towels...

# data[].attributes.subject
Headline: 'I was having fun' throwing paper towels...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
WASHINGTON - President Trump blasted the "fake" media for criticizing his response to Hurricane Maria and said Puerto Ricans actually loved it when he lobbed "these beautiful, soft paper towels" into the crowd.

In a friendly interview with Mike Huckabee for the Trinity Broadcasting Network, Trump said he's done a "great job" helping Puerto Rico and was just having fun when he started tossing paper towel rolls at hurricane victims.

"There was a crowd of a lot of people and they were screaming and loving everything and I was having fun," Trump said his visit to San Juan Tuesday. "They were having fun. They were saying: 'throw them to me, throw them to me, Mr. President. And so...the next day they said, 'oh, it was so disrespectful to the people.' It's just a made up thing."

Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and father of Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, agreed.

"You were a rock star," Huckabee said.

Trump then took credit ​for the label "fake" and marveled how he still won the presidency with such bad publicity.

"Look the media is fake. Meantime I'm here, it's sort of amazing. I'm here and I sort of ask myself: 'how did I ever get here with the horrible, unfair publicity,;" Trump said.

"I think one of the greatest of all terms I've come up with is 'fake'," the president continued. " I guess other people have used it over the years, perhaps, but I've never noticed it. And it's shame. They (the media) really hurt the country."

Trump also complained that ​First Lady ​Melania caught "abuse" for wearing stilettos while traveling to survey Hurricane Harvey damage. She changed into sneakers while in Texas.

"Out of respect for the White House, she wants to look good leaving the front entrance [of] the White House. So she dresses up and puts on formal shoes, high heels," Trump said of the First Lady's fashion choices. ".... She has sneake​​rs, in the meantime, so she can change into other clothing when we're walking through where a hurricane is just leaving. And she took tremendous abuse."

Trump said he's since seen signs of support for his wife, a former fashion model, reading "'We love your stilettos.' ... They love her. She's a very good person," Trump said. "She loves to help people."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Trump: 'I was having fun' throwing paper towels in Puerto Rico

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
WASHINGTON - President Trump blasted the "fake" media for criticizing his response to Hurricane Maria and said Puerto Ricans actually loved it when he lobbed "these beautiful, soft paper towels" into the crowd.

# data[].attributes.headline
Headline: Hurricane-battered Puerto Ricans lash out at Trump’s paper towel stunt: ‘All he brought were those napkins’

# data[].attributes.subject
Headline: Hurricane-battered Puerto Ricans lash out at Trump’s paper towel stunt: ‘All he brought were those napkins’

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Hurricane-battered Puerto Ricans lash out at Trump's paper towel stunt: 'All he brought were those napkins'

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
President Donald Trump's decision to throw out paper towels to the crowd during his trip to hurricane-battered Puerto Rico isn't sitting well with some of the island's residents. In a New Yorker article on hurricane survivors in Puerto Rico, resident Carlos J.

# data[].attributes.headline
Headline: In Puerto Rico, Trump's paper-towel toss reveals where his empathy lies

# data[].attributes.subject
Headline: In Puerto Rico, Trump's paper-towel toss reveals where his empathy lies

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
About US is a new initiative by The Washington Post to cover issues of identity in the United States. Look for the About US newsletter launching this fall.

A century from now, men and women yet to be born will shoulder the complex duty of identifying the precise moments, the public statements and images that captured the complex essence of President Trump and his influence on American life.

One set of images - captured this week as Trump paid court to the storm-ravaged island of Puerto Rico - is a real contender for that archive, which will exist beyond the life span of the president and his most ardent defenders. In those images, the 45th president can be seen at a supply distribution point, dressed in a dark suit sans tie while tossing rolls of paper towels into a crowd.

[A tale of two Puerto Ricos: What Trump saw and what he didn't]

It was a moment that the mayor of San Juan called "terrible and abominable." Families in Puerto Rico have been living for nearly two weeks without electricity, some struggling to find food and clean water. The president's tossing of desperately needed goods to the crowd in a manner befitting "USA" merchandise has been panned as exceedingly tone-deaf.

But Trump's behavior during his four-hour trip to Puerto Rico follows a familiar pattern.This is what grudging benevolence rooted in a sense of personal superiority and belief in the power of performance looks like.

Nicholas Vargas, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Florida, noted that Trump doesn't approach everyone in such a state of callous disconnect. In August, Trump said there were "very fine people" among the white supremacists at a rally in Charlottesville that left a counterprotester dead. Soon after, he pardoned former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, formally expressing concern for a man known for racially profiling Latinos and housing jail inmates outdoors in tents.

In these cases, Trump showed compassion.

[Puerto Ricans are a surging, outraged political force in Florida in the aftermath of Maria]

"But when it comes to Puerto Rico and the humanitarian crisis there, what we see is a hands-off, bitter, hardly restrained resentment that anything is expected of him at all," said Vargas, who studies issues related to race and ethnicity. "This is a man who has the capacity to empathize. It - even in a catastrophe - is just a selective thing."

These images show a president without mercy for certain human beings, "people unlike him," Vargas said. "That is women, people of color - even in the most dire of circumstances."

What was captured in Puerto Rico this week was the period in American history when the president of the United States responded to pleas for help from U.S. citizens and officials with a series of dismissive, then demeaning, tweets that suggested the real problem on the island was a lack of gratitude, self-help and spirit of industry.

These are the images of a visit during which the president joshed about the budget-busting cost of island storm recovery and offered what his own advisers have described as the empty promise to somehow erase the massive public debt that had pushed Puerto Rico into a crisis before the storms arrived.

[FEMA removes statistics about drinking water access and electricity in Puerto Rico from website]

These are the images of a president who chided anyone prepared to complain about the pace and volume of federal aid.

Those who work for or adore Trump attribute his commentary on the disaster in Puerto Rico to the notion that Trump was attacked and is temperamentally inclined to bite back. For the same reasons, those convinced of Trump's magnanimity - he did, after all, display very different behavior this week in Las Vegas, which is reeling from a massive, deadly shooting - will pronounce the paper towel incident another Trump success. Most in that crowd are smiling, they say. And, they had enough electricity to charge their phones. Such a response is a symptom of denial and a focus on minute details in the face of wholesale horror. That's a standard part of public discourse in Trump's America, too.

Already on the mainland, assessments of Trump's visit have been gentle or largely political, said Carlos A. Suarez Carrasquillo, a University of Florida professor who teaches courses on the politics of the Caribbean and researches his native Puerto Rico. In Puerto Rico and in Miami, however, the paper towel toss, the budget jokes and the meaningless promise to erase the island's public debt have left people feeling offended, unattended to and incensed, he said.

Trump's sense of disconnect from Puerto Ricans is common. Almost half of all Americans told pollsters in September that they did not know that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens. Puerto Ricans demonstrated a sense of their limited regard on the mainland, Vargas said, when their cries for help centered on their citizenship rather than their humanity.

Members of the island's legislature have begun to discuss disaster response in tandem with Puerto Rico's status as a piece of colonial bounty, a U.S. territory rather than a state or free actor in the global political and economic arena for over 100 years. Arguments for statehood, a long-running part of the island's political landscape, have gained in the weeks after the hurricane, new evidence that citizens living in territories are not equal to those living in states, Suarez said.

Even the community where the president went to see the storm damage up close has drawn some scrutiny. It is one of San Juan's most affluent suburbs, full of sturdy, concrete homes, Suarez explained. It's a place where people are busy making repairs, not trying to imagine how to rebuild or relocate. He should know. It's the area where he grew up.

A 10-minute drive would have put Trump in a community where far poorer people are living, bathing and cooking outdoors, Suarez said, people reduced to sustaining life with almost Neolithic-era tools.

"It implies that the president does not want to know or want the rest of the American people to see the scope of loss and misery," Suarez said. "It was a very sanitized visit where a president did not deliver aid or comfort in any kind of personal or emotionally meaningful way."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Analysis | In Puerto Rico, Trump's paper-towel toss reveals where his empathy lies

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
About US is a new initiative by The Washington Post to cover issues of identity in the United States. Look for the About US newsletter launching this fall. A century from now, men and women yet to be born will shoulder the complex duty of identifying the precise moments, the public statements and images that captured the complex essence of President Trump and his influence on American life.

# data[].attributes.headline
Headline: President Trump Tossing Out Rolls Of Paper Towels To Puerto Rican Residents Looks As Ridiculous As One Might Expect

# data[].attributes.subject
Headline: President Trump Tossing Out Rolls Of Paper Towels To Puerto Rican Residents Looks As Ridiculous As One Might Expect

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
President Trump visited the hurricane ravaged United States territory of Puerto Rico on Tuesday, after a weekend spent sniping at San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz on Twitter for having the nerve to ask for federal aid to help save her people. Trump's visit was every bit the uncomfortable, glorified photo op we've come to expect from the 45th president, who "joked" at a press conference that Puerto Rico has "thrown our budget a little out of wack," and that the crisis wasn't that big of a deal when compared "a real catastrophe like Katrina."

During his visit, Trump also swung by an event for survivors of Hurricane Maria at the Calvary Chapel in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, to help hand out supplies to those affected, and of course bizarre photos and video were captured of him awkwardly throwing rolls of paper towels out into the crowd like a shopping mall Santa Claus tossing out candy to kids.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
President Trump Tossing Out Rolls Of Paper Towels To Puerto Rican Residents Looks As Ridiculous As One Might Expect

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
President Trump visited the hurricane ravaged United States territory of Puerto Rico on Tuesday, after a weekend spent sniping at San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz on Twitter for having the nerve to ask for federal aid to help save her people.

# data[].attributes.headline
Headline: Trump Just Dropped The BIGGEST SECRET About Why He Threw Those Paper Towels In Puerto Rico

# data[].attributes.subject
Headline: Trump Just Dropped The BIGGEST SECRET About Why He Threw Those Paper Towels In Puerto Rico

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
By now, you've probably seen picture of President Trump throwing out paper towels in Puerto Rico, during his recent visit there.

And you've likely seen the pictures in the context of what an awful, terrible person he is, to have tossed paper towels to the people like that.

(Courtesy of RealMediaNews via Youtube.com)

Well, here's his response, ya'll:

(Courtesy of Trump Nation via Youtube.com)

"They had these beautiful, soft towels." "Very good towels. And I came in and there was a crowd of a lot of people. And they were screaming and they were loving everything. I was having fun, they were having fun. They said, 'Throw 'em to me! Throw 'em to me, Mr. President!'"

Did you hear that? They ASKED him to throw the towels! They were having FUN! OMG! FUN?! We'll have none of that, says the MSM! LOL!

I, for one, am glad to see that the Puerto Rican people had a chance to smile, laugh and have some fun, after all they've gone through with the hurricanes this year! They obviously enjoyed the President's visit!

If you would like the libs to STOP WHINING, please get this Shared out, so they see it and realize what fools the media makes of them! And Comment "Lighten up Libs!"

[H/T The Daily Caller]

Life without liberty is like a body without spirit. Please follow me on Facebook. Look forward to chatting about politics.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Trump Just Dropped the BIGGEST SECRET About Why He Threw Those Paper Towels in Puerto Rico

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
By now, you've probably seen picture of President Trump throwing out paper towels in Puerto Rico, during his recent visit there. And you've likely seen the pictures in the context of what an awful, terrible person he is, to have tossed paper towels to the people like that.