President Donald Trump said Saturday that San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, “who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump,” as Puerto Rico struggles to recover in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria’s devastation.

The president and the Puerto Rican mayor engaged in a spat Saturday over whether or not the federal government had done enough to aid the U.S. island territory in its ongoing recovery efforts. While praising the military personnel and first responders already deployed in Puerto Rico, Trump also blasted the “fake news networks” that were “working overtime in Puerto Rico doing their best to take the spirit away” from the federal government’s aid.

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The spat began Friday during a press conference when Cruz said, “I will do what I never thought I was going to do. I am begging, begging anyone who can hear us to save us from dying. If anybody out there is listening to us, we are dying, and you are killing us with the inefficiency.”

On Friday evening, Cruz told CNN’s Anderson Cooper, “We’re dying here. We truly are dying here. I keep saying it: SOS. If anyone can hear us, if Mr. Trump can hear us, let’s just get it over with and get the ball rolling.”

The president, however, argued that the ball was rolling already in a series of tweets Saturday morning.

“The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump,” the president tweeted. “Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They … want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job.”

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Trump added, “The military and first responders, despite no electric, roads, phones etc., have done an amazing job. Puerto Rico was totally destroyed.”

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The mayor did not take kindly to Trump’s criticism when she appeared on MSNBC’s “AM Joy” with Joy Reid later in the morning.

“It’s not about politics, it’s not about petty comments, it’s about moving forward, putting boots on the ground and saving lives,” Cruz said. “Actually, I was asking for help. I wasn’t saying anything nasty about the president.”

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“This is a time when everyone shows their true colors. I have no time for distractions. All I have is time for people to move forward, to get help,” Cruz added. “I will continue to do what I have to do, say what I have to say, compliment the people that I have to compliment, and call out the people that I need to call out.”

Cruz also issued a tweet Saturday morning with pictures of herself involved in the recovery efforts, saying, “The goal is one: saving lives. This is the time to show our ‘true colors.’ We cannot be distracted by anything else.”

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After criticizing Cruz, the president shifted his attention to the “Fake News Networks” that he claimed seek to criticize and demean his efforts every step of the way.

“Fake News CNN and NBC are going out of their way to disparage our great First Responders as a way to ‘get Trump.’ Not fair to FR or effort!” Trump tweeted. “The Fake News Networks are working overtime in Puerto Rico doing their best to take the spirit away from our soldiers and first R’s. Shame!”

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Trump’s criticism of the mainstream media’s outpouring of negative Puerto Rico coverage came several days after the networks began focusing on the ongoing crisis. On the weekend of September 23-24, the media were consumed with reporting on Trump’s spat with the National Football League after he blasted players who chose to protest against racial injustice by kneeling while the national anthem is played.

The Media Research Center (MRC) released a study Tuesday revealing that ABC, CBS and NBC spent 3.6 times more airtime covering the NFL controversy than reporting on the Puerto Rican crisis. But after the controversy began to die down, the media turned to Puerto Rico and the president’s response while U.S. citizens continued to suffer in Hurricane Maria’s aftermath.

The president also noted he will be flying to visit Puerto Rico on Tuesday.

“I will be going to Puerto Rico on Tuesday with Melania. Will hopefully be able to stop at the U.S. Virgin Islands (people working hard).”

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(photo credit, homepage image: Melvin Alfredo; photo credit, article image: Gage Skidmore)