President George W.Bush has said that the $35 million pledge for victims of the Asian tsunami was only the beginning of US aid and any suggestions America was stingy were "misguided and ill-informed."
In his first public statement since the tsunami struck on Sunday, the president did not announce an immediate increase in aid to the region where the death toll is now nearing 80,000 and could ultimately exceed 100,000.
The White House faced criticism yesterday over the fact that Mr Bush, who is vacationing at his Crawford, Texas ranch, had not yet appeared in person to talk about the disaster.
"These past few days have brought loss and grief to the world that is beyond our comprehension," President Bush said.
"The United States will continue to stand with the affected governments as they care for the victims. We will stand with them as they start to rebuild their communities," he said, adding that he had spoken by phone to the leaders of India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia.
"I assure those leaders that this is just only the beginning of our help," he said.
At a briefing with reporters at an airport hangar near the ranch, Mr Bush displayed pique at a comment by a UN official that rich countries had generally been "stingy" in aid to poor countries.
"I felt like the person who made that statement was very misguided and ill-informed," he said.
"In the year 2004, our government provided $2.4 billion in food and cash and humanitarian relief. ... That's 40 per cent of all the relief aid given in the world last year," he said.
Jan Egeland, the emergency relief coordinator for the United Nations, has pleaded for rich nations to respond generously and quickly and said the level of their aid contributions in general had been "stingy." He has since backed off those comments, telling reporters that he was misinterpreted and that the early response on the tsunami had been "overwhelmingly positive."
President Bush said that apart from what the government is doing, there have been lot of private donations from Americans and he urged people to do more, specifically by providing cash to nongovernmental organizations.
"A lot of times Americans, in their desire to help, will send blankets or clothes," Bush said. "That may be necessary, but to me it makes more sense to send cash to organizations that can then use that cash to make sure we match resources with specific needs on the ground."
On future US aid for the tsunami victims, Mr Bush said: "There will be an assessment of the damage so that the next tranche of the relief will be spent wisely. ... Our government is fully prepared to continue to provide assistance and help."
The president appeared caught off guard by a question as to whether the United States was adequately protected with early warning systems for residents of the West Coast, Alaska and Hawaii.
"I can't answer your question specifically," he said but added that he was in the process of asking government agencies to look into such things.
"I think that our location in the world is such that we may be less vulnerable than other parts," said Mr Bush. "But I am not a geologist, as you know. But I think it's a very legitimate question."
He said he had been focusing so far on the international warning system, which he said was not adequate.