October 4, 2017

Quote of the Day: Wall Street Can “Wave Goodbye” to Puerto Rico Debts

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From President Trump, in an interview with Geraldo Rivera that aired last night on Hannity:

They owe a lot of money to your friends on Wall Street and we’re going to have to wipe that out. You’re going to say goodbye to that, I don’t know if it’s Goldman Sachs but whoever it is you can wave goodbye to that.

I love the reference to “your friends” on Wall Street, as if Trump himself is a Bernie-crat who loathes high finance. In reality, of course, he tried to hire Anthony Scaramucci and succeeded in hiring Steve Mnuchin, Wilbur Ross, Gary Cohn, and Dina Powell. Despite that, Wall Street tycoons are “your friends,” not his.

We’ll see. Trump could prove his alleged populist bona fides by truly pushing to wipe out Puerto Rico’s debt. But I wouldn’t bet the ranch on that. I’m sure we’ll soon have a “clarification” from the White House that Trump was just joking, or referring to ongoing restructuring negotiations, or only talking about debt owed to China. Or something.

Fascinating tidbit: Rivera himself clearly understands that Trump is wading into dangerous territory and cuts him off before he can cause himself more trouble. What a friend!

If you’re up for it, you can hear Trump talk about Puerto Rico’s debt starting around 3:20 in the interview below. Trigger warning: the interview starts with Trump droning on yet again about what a fabulous job he’s done in Puerto Rico and how he’s not getting enough credit for it.

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