Elizabeth Warren heading to Puerto Rico next week

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is planning a trip to Puerto Rico next week amid reports that President Trump is considering diverting hurricane relief funding to help build his planned border wall.

The Warren campaign said the senator would hold a “Community Conversation about Puerto Rico and its Recovery with Elizabeth Warren” on Tuesday, according to an announcement.

The trip would be the Massachusetts Democrat’s first to Puerto Rico since declaring in December that she was forming an exploratory committee for a possible presidential run.

It also comes after the largest-ever delegation of lawmakers visited the U.S. territory this week, engaging in an exchange of words with Trump for leaving Washington during a partial government shutdown.

{mosads}The trip to the U.S. territory comes over a year after Hurricane Maria ravaged the island.

The storm caused widespread damage to the Puerto Rico’s infrastructure and thrust the island into a political fight with the White House over additional disaster funding.

CNN first reported last week that the White House has considered tapping into billions of dollars in unspent Defense Department disaster recovery and military construction funds if the president were to declare a national emergency in order to build his border wall with Mexico. 

“Mexico won’t pay for @realDonaldTrump’s stupid wall, and neither will Congress. So now, he’s considering using dollars that were supposed to go to disaster recovery efforts in Puerto Rico, TX, CA & elsewhere to fund his political stunt. Unacceptable,” Warren responded on Twitter.

Mexico won’t pay for @realDonaldTrump‘s stupid wall, and neither will Congress. So now, he’s considering using dollars that were supposed to go to disaster recovery efforts in Puerto Rico, TX, CA & elsewhere to fund his political stunt. Unacceptable. https://t.co/dTelEecswk

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) January 11, 2019

Warren, who has traveled to Iowa and New Hampshire since declaring her exploratory committee, visited Puerto Rico last year with other members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation in the aftermath of the hurricane.

The Massachusetts Democrat, who is likely heading into a crowded primary field, has repeatedly feuded with the president before and has cast herself as a staunch opponent of many White House policies.