WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — A former high-ranking Department of Homeland Security official says President Donald Trump floated the idea of trading the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico for Greenland. Miles Taylor claims Trump said Puerto Rico was "dirty" and that "the people were poor."
Taylor was DHS chief of staff from 2017 to 2019 under former Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Taylor said that before a trip to visit hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands in August 2018, Trump suggested a trade.
"He actually said he wanted to see if we could sell Puerto Rico," Taylor told MSNBC Thursday. "Could we swap Puerto Rico for Greenland because, in his words, Puerto Rico was 'dirty' and 'the people were poor.'"
Taylor also said Trump on occasions "expressed deep animus towards the Puerto Rican people," who are U.S. citizens.
When asked if he thought Trump was joking, Taylor said, "I did not take it as a joke."
Trump made news in August 2019 when he acknowledged reports that he was interested in the U.S. buying Greenland, which is a self-governed territory of Denmark. But Trump said at the time it was not a top priority. Greenland made it clear it was not for sale.
TEGNA has attempted to reach out to the White House for a response.
Puerto Rico, with a population of 3.2 million people, has fought hard to recover from devastating Hurricane Maria in 2017, and subsequent hurricanes, tropical storms and earthquakes. It was already facing significant debt as well before Maria hit.
Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez announced Wednesday that she'll place the island on a 24-hour lockdown every Sunday as part of stricter measures to fight a spike in coronavirus cases.
And on Sunday, Vázquez acknowledged losing the primary of her pro-statehood party to Pedro Pierluisi, who briefly served as the territory's governor last year amid political turmoil. The results came one week after delayed and missing ballots led to a chaotic primary that forced a second round of voting on Sunday in which thousands of Puerto Ricans got a second chance to vote for the first time.
Taylor, a self-described Republican, wrote an op-ed on Monday and appeared in an ad by the group Republican Voters Against Trump, saying he was endorsing Joe Biden after witnessing first-hand the president's handling of national security issues.