Huge controversy started in social media after President Donald Trump offered “financial aid to rebuild Notre Dame Cathedral” at the same time he said most experts from the US will be ready to express their opinion regarding reconstruction process. (Notre Dame tragedy: What is next?) Why is this a problem? Apparently, many people feel that the President is forgetting about the Flint Crisis and Puerto Rico. Does this make sense? No.
More than 5 years have gone and the people of Flint, Michigan are still trying to get clean water. This situation has been a problem for more than one administration and it seems to be very complex. The core of Flint Water Crisis: Insufficient water treatment exposed over 100,000 residents to contaminated water. This incident started in 2014, even though the entire problematic might go a little bit more behind time. While this keeps being investigated and worked on by the Congress … Who is to blame for? Definitely not the US President and at the same time … What is Congress doing to fix this?
Hurricane Maria was a deadly Hurricane (Category 5) that devastated Dominica, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico in September 2017. Approximately 3,057 people lost their lives and the cost of reparations exceed the $91 billion that have been reported by official sources. But again, which is the relation with a deadly Hurricane and President Trump? While his actions and the DHS one’s have been the focus of many critics … this looked more like a tragedy that has been used from some sector of politics to “rival” the President.
At the same time, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative gave later a good “review” to the military deployment ordered by Donald Trump in 2018 : “the military mission in Puerto Rico after hurricane was better than critics say but suffered flaws. It concluded that the U.S. military itself performed as well in Puerto Rico as it does in its international relief missions, and that coordination had been greatly improved since Katrina, but that real shortcomings exist in planning for disasters” (Wikipedia).
By understanding this 2 crisis we can see that are a combination of poor management, bad decisions and “natural disasters” that can be prevented better. And now … Why some people can tolerate that the US President wants to help (with resources that are available) a fellow ally state like France? Why not help rebuilding a “world treasure” like Notre Dame is?
Today it looks like we are starting to get used to extremism. Media, Social Media, TV shows, wherever we go extremism takes over. We live in a sensitive world, too sensitive that some might be using this “emotional” moment to take advantage. Politicians are responsible for what they do and what they say. They are an example for future generations. Wether you think Donald Trump and his team can do more for Puerto Rico or Flint has nothing to do with the fact that Notre Dame’s fire it is a tragedy that requires the best of our leaders. Donald Trump is doing the right thing.
When the US goes to war or starts a “trade war” then (for some) it is manipulating the system. But when it is doing the right thing by offering help to a country that is part of the Western Alliance … it is also wrong. It is true that the current administration has the resources and should push stronger to solve the Flint Water Crisis and expand aid into Puerto Rico and its financial crisis, but it is not fair to negatively judge the President for being “politically and diplomatically” correct.
