Trump in San Juan: 'I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you've thrown our budget a little out of whack'

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the humanitarian aid response in Puerto Rico following the devastation of Hurricane Maria has "thrown our budget a little out of whack," during a visit to the Caribbean island.

"I hate to tell you, Puerto Rico, but you've thrown our budget a little out of whack, because we've spent a lot of money on Puerto Rico," Trump said.

He quickly added that the money was well spent.

"That's fine, we've saved a lot of lives," he said.  

Trump went on to compare the devastation in Puerto Rico to that of Hurricane Katrina in the US, saying relatively few people have lost their lives as a result of the storm and ensuing loss of power, destruction of infrastructure, and widespread flooding. 

"Every death is a horror, but if you look at a real catastrophe like Katrina and you look at the tremendous - hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people that died," Trump said, "and if you look at what happened here with really a storm that was totally overpowering ... what is your death count?" 

An official seated beside the president said there have so far been 16 confirmed deaths, a number that is expected to rise. 

"Sixteen versus literally thousands. You can be very proud," Trump said. 

The president has been criticized for appearing to be less attentive to Puerto Rico's needs following Hurricane Maria than he was to the recent crises in Texas and Florida after hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

Trump's first public response to the devastation in the US territory came five days after Hurricane Maria hit, in a series of tweets in which he focused on Puerto Rico's weak infrastructure and economy.

Days later, he attacked the mayor of San Juan, Carmen Yulin Cruz, after she criticized the inefficiency of the federal government's relief efforts and asked Trump to send more help, more quickly. 

"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," he tweeted on Saturday. "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."

Trump also argued that the mayor was criticizing him because she had "been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump."

The president's comments sparked widespread condemnation from Democrats, celebrities, and Puerto Ricans. 

Trump and Cruz exchanged pleasantries Tuesday, according to a White House pool report. In his remarks, Trump thanked Puerto Rico's governor, Ricardo Rosello, who was seated next to him, for refusing to "play politics" with the relief effort.

Trump has repeatedly lashed out at the media's coverage of the crisis in Puerto Rico, which he claims has been a concerted attack on his administration and federal first responders. 

"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!" he tweeted on Saturday.

Watch the clip below: