Under fire for response to Maria, Trump dedicates golf trophy to hurricane victims

Under fire over the federal government’s response to hurricane in Puerto Rico, US President Donald Trump has dedicated a golf trophy to the victims.

On Sunday, the US president, who is great fan of golf, dedicated the trophy to the victims of the hurricanes recently affecting Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico as his response to the latest, Maria, was being vastly criticized.

"On behalf of all of the people of Texas, and all of the people -- if you look today and see what is happening, how horrible it is but we have it under really great control -- Puerto Rico and the people of Florida who have really suffered over this last short period of time with the hurricanes, I want to just remember them," the president said.

Trump made the comments as he was giving the trophy to American captain Steve Strickler after the Presidents Cup golf tournament in the US state of New Jersey.

"And we're going to dedicate this trophy to all of those people that went through so much that we love -- a part of our great state, really part of our great nation," he added.

The president has been at war with Puerto Rican officials who believe he has not done enough to help the US island territory in the wake of the deadly Hurricane Maria.

He took to Twitter on Saturday to aim at San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, claiming that she and "and others in Puerto Rico" expect "everything to be done for them" by the Trump administration.

His tweet caused outraged among some politicians, namely Democratic Representative Luis Gutierrez as well as former Republican Representative Joe Scarborough.

But the administration has been defending it response to the hurricane by attacking the Puerto Rican officials, and accusing the “fake news media” of attempts to undermine relief efforts in Puerto Rico.

Since the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump has repeatedly used the term "fake news" largely for any coverage criticizing him or his allies.

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US Vice President Mike Pence also defended his boss’s performance.

This is while Puerto Rico is experiencing one of its worst hurricanes in decades.

“Sometimes we don’t know what’s going to happen until the storm actually hits," said Lieutenant General Jeffrey Buchanan in an interview published on with PBS NewsHour Saturday.

He elaborated further on the situation there, noting that the probels are worse there “because of roads.”

"The roads are not clear on the outside of the island and we’re slowly working our way in," he said. "But we obviously need to get all the roads cleared so we can get supplies to people who desperately need them.”

Maria is the tenth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record, the worst to strike Dominica in its recorded history, and the strongest in Puerto Rico since 1928.

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