Why Trump Shouldn't Help Notre-Dame Right Now
Flint, Michigan and Puerto Rico are still fighting for disaster relief as Trump quickly approves funding for Notre Dame.
Notre Dame burned down on Monday, April 15th. On Wednesday, April 17th, President Trump announced he will be helping fund the rebuild of the iconic structure. Only took him two days to respond with immediate want to assist.
It started in 2014. It's been 1,825 days since Flint, Michigan last had clean water. On April 16th, 2019 they were finally granted the rest of their federal funding — $77.7 million. However, they are still in dire need of almost $300 million over the course of 20 years in order to entirely reestablish the water system and maintain it.
It's been 18 months since nearly 3,000 people's lives were taken when Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. The infrastructure of nearly the entire island was destroyed and most of the U.S. territory was left without water or power. Trump claims to have given Puerto Rica $91 billion in disaster relief when they have only received $11 billion — he is simply referring to money set aside for recovery along with money that's "expected" to be spent over several decades.
The point is, France is arguably one of the richest countries in the world and Trump didn't even bat an eye to give them any and all the help they need in order to rebuild the Notre Dame. Now, I'm not saying it's not a tragedy or that we shouldn't help them - it definitely is sad and it's extremely generous of us to offer help. The issue at hand is that France can afford our help on its own; whilst states like Michigan and countries of Puerto Rico can't. They actually need our help.
Lives were lost. People are still suffering. Yet there's hesitation on what kind of help they should be receiving if any at all at this point.
No one died in the fall of Notre Dame.
I'm not suggesting or overriding the importance of one or the other but there is something to be said about Trump's initial responses to all three events.
