Donald Trump wanted to sell Puerto Rico or change it for Greenland because he considered the Caribbean to be “dirty” and “poor,” a former White House official said.
Miles Taylor, who served as chief of staff at the former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, said the president made the remarks in August 2018 – less than a year after Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria.
“Not only did he want to buy Greenland, he actually said he wanted to see if we could sell Puerto Rico,” Mr Taylor said. MSNBC on Wednesday. “Could we exchange Puerto Rico for Greenland because, in his words, Puerto Rico was dirty and the people were poor.”
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Taylor’s remarks, which recently backed Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, seem to support claims in a New York Times report last month. White House officials have supported Puerto Rico’s proposal The time report explained.
Maria was a deadly Category Five hurricane that swept through Dominica, St. Croix, and Puerto Rico in September 2017. It is considered one of the worst natural disasters to hit the islands, and the most devastating Atlantic hurricane since Jeanne hit the region in 2004.
In Puerto Rico – a U.S. territory – about 3,000 people were killed in the storm, causing billions of dollars in damage, which decimated livelihoods and entire communities.
“The president spoke out behind the scenes in deep animosity against the Puerto Rican people,” Taylor continued. ‘These are people who are suffering from the worst disaster of their lives. He is their president. He should stand by them, and not try to sell to a foreign country, ‘he added.
In response to Taylor’s comments on Twitter, Mr Trump described the former DHS official as a ‘disgruntled’ employee he had “never heard of”.
White House spokesman Judd Deere said the former DHS official was “another creature of the DC swamp who never understood the importance of the president’s agenda, or why the American people elected and clearly just wanting to make money “.
Taylor said Mr. Trump, who was widely criticized for his handling of the disaster, made the remarks in August 2018, shortly before he visited Puerto Rico as the territory continued its recovery action.
Carmen Yulin Cruz, mayor of San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, said at the time that Mr. Trump’s reaction to the hurricane was a “stain on his presidency.” “The Trump administration killed the Puerto Rican with negligence,” she added.
During his first visit to the territory in October 2017, the president was widely condemned for throwing packages of paper towels at hurricane survivors, in what was described as a “PR, 17-minute meeting”.
The appearance of the American president throwing paper towels was “terrible and horrible”, added Ms Yulin Cruz.
Mr. Trump, however, described his visit as a “great day” in a message posted on Twitter. He claimed that most of the Puerto Ricans showed “great warmth and friendship” because he failed at “false” coverage of the event.
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