- A former chief of staff at the Homeland Security Department revealed a request he heard from President Donald Trump during an MSNBC interview on Wednesday.
- “He actually said … we could swap Puerto Rico for Greenland because, in his words, Puerto Rico was ‘dirty’ and ‘the people were poor,'” former DHS chief of staff Miles Taylor told MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson.
- Taylor said Trump made the offensive remarks ahead of a 2018 trip to Puerto Rico for hurricane relief.
- The former official added that Trump “expresses deep animosity for the Puerto Rican people behind the scenes”, and that he did not believe Trump was joking.
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Former Secretary of State Miles Taylor made a surprise revelation during an MSNBC interview on Wednesday.
Taylor, who has been talking about his time in the Trump administration in recent days, told MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson that he heard a swap deal for Puerto Rico and Greenland in the summer of 2018.
According to Taylor, Trump made the remarks ahead of a trip in August 2018 to Puerto Rico for hurricane relief.
—Republican voters against Trump (@ RVAT2020) August 19, 2020
“He actually said he wanted to see if we could sell Puerto Rico – we could move Puerto Rico to Greenland because, in his words, Puerto Rico was ‘dirty’ and ‘the people were poor,'” Taylor said.
“These are Americans, Hallie. We’re not talking about our other Americans,” Taylor said.
When Jackson asked if Trump was joking, Taylor said, “I did not take it as a joke.”
Taylor also notes that Trump “expresses deep animosity for the Puerto Rican people behind the scenes.”
White House spokesman Judd Deere told Insider in an email that Taylor “is another creature of the DC swamp who has never understood the importance of the president’s agenda other than why the American people chose him and clearly just wants to appreciate him. “
“President Trump has an unusual number of achievements, despite government bureaucrats who are only for themselves, not the forgotten men and women of this country.”
