Watch: Trump Says U.S. Did 'Fantastic Job' Helping Puerto Rico After Nearly 3,000 Reported Dead

President Donald Trump said his administration did "a fantastic job" with hurricane relief for Puerto Rico, only a day after the island's government announced the death toll was close to 3,000 people.

"I think we did a fantastic job in Puerto Rico," Trump said during a press conference Wednesday. "We're still helping Puerto Rico. The governor is an excellent guy and he's really happy with the job we've done."

Trump continued that the U.S. "put billions and billions of dollars in Puerto Rico and it was a very tough one."

The president elaborated that the U.S. territory's electric plant was dead before Hurricane Maria hit last September. Thousands of Puerto Ricans lacked electricity for months afterward.

"We have put a lot of money, a lot of effort into Puerto Rico and I think most of the people in Puerto Rico really appreciate what we've done," Trump said, and compared its location to parts of the U.S. that were ravaged by hurricanes.

"You know, Texas healed quickly and the people were incredible. Florida healed quickly and everybody worked very hard," the president said. "Puerto Rico was actually more difficult because of the fact it's an island, it's much harder to get things onto the island."

Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rosselló on Tuesday said that the official death count would be updated from 64 to 2,975 to match the results of a George Washington University study.

Rosselló acknowledged criticism that Puerto Rico officials and the Trump administration have faced over a lack of preparedness for the hurricane.

"I agree that we could be and should be more effective on the operational side," he said. "I agree I made mistakes. This could have been done differently."

Rosselló added he would establish an investigatory commission to put into place some recommendations the study suggested to prepare for future storms.

"This is a time for Puerto Ricans to bind together, to mourn, to reflect on the things that were done properly and the things that were mistakes," the governor said, "And to have a firm commitment to identifying those mistakes and make sure that moving forward towards our future those mistakes aren't repeated."

Trump said he hopes Puerto Rico does not get hit by another hurricane "because they were hit by two right in a row, and really the likes of which we have never seen before."