Puerto Rico Debt Crisis Won't Get Relief from Donald Trump If Elected President
Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, insists he has no plans of bailing out Puerto Rico if he is elected the next commander in chief.
Earlier this week, the cash-strapped island defaulted on a $422 million debt payment and Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla has already warned his government will not be able to make on a $2 million payment scheduled for July 1.
Debt Crisis Forces School, Hospital Closings
Puerto Rico finds itself in the throes of a financial crisis that has resulted in the closures of several schools and hospitals across the island. None of that was enough to move Trump, who in a recent interview declared, "I'm the king of debt. I love debt. The problem with Puerto Rico is they have far too much debt."
Puerto Rican officials have made no secret of their hope that the U.S. Congress will intervene and assist the island will digging its way from under all the red ink.
Between Republicans and Democrats, the crisis has already reinvigorated nonstop ideological debate about the federal government's role in such fiscally mismanaged situations, versus the toll such dire circumstances take on the well-being of real life people.
"You can't just restructure," added Trump. "You have to use the laws, cut the debt way down, and get back to business, because they can't survive with the kind of debt they have. I would not bail out if I were--- if I were in the position I would not bail them out."
Nearly Half of Country Lives in Poverty
Reports are the island's debt is now trading on as little as $0.10 cents on the dollar. In addition, the U.S. Treasury Department reports nearly half, or 45 percent, of all Puerto Ricans live in poverty, compared with a national average of nearly only one-third of that.
An estimated 1,500 Puerto Rican residents are now reported to be leaving the island each week, further diminishing an already greatly depleted tax base.
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