Donald Trump has publicly questioned the official death toll from last year's hurricane in Puerto Rico, accusing political rivals of inflating the figures to make him look bad.

Hurricane Maria hit the US territory last September, causing massive damage on the Caribbean island.

While authorities initially reported that several dozen people had died as a result of the storm, a government-commissioned report released last month dramatically increased the death toll to almost 3,000 people.

Authorities on the island said they accepted the figures

In a pair of tweets, President Trump claimed, without providing evidence, that "3000 people did not die" in the hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico last year.

He suggested: "When I left the Island, AFTER the storm had hit, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths.

"As time went by it did not go up by much. Then, a long time later, they started to report really large numbers, like 3000."

He went on to accuse Democrats of making up the figure 'to make me look bad'.

.....This was done by the Democrats in order to make me look as bad as possible when I was successfully raising Billions of Dollars to help rebuild Puerto Rico. If a person died for any reason, like old age, just add them onto the list. Bad politics. I love Puerto Rico!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 13, 2018

The tweets came as residents in several states along the east coast of the US are preparing for the expected arrival of Hurricane Florence - a storm which has already prompted mass evacuations in states including North and South Carolina.

Hurricane Maria

Last month, an estimated death toll of 2,975 was given in the recent report from the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University into last year's hurricane in Puerto Rico.

The death toll was more than 45 times greater than the previous estimate of 64 deaths attributable to the storm and its aftermath.

Puerto Rico governor Ricardo Rosselló said he accepted the findings of the study, noting that he will set up a commission to implement the report's recommendations.

He said the new figure was an estimate but with a 'scientific basis'.

Responding to President Trump's claims today, Democratic House minority leader Nancy Pelosi claimed the US President "prefers his 'alternative facts' to the tragedy faced by families of the lost".

She added: "Worse still, the [Republican party] is determined to shield his insulting behavior from accountability. It’s time for Republicans in Congress to get back to performing our crucial oversight function."