Donald Trump says Puerto Rico’s $72 billion national debt must be wiped out

President visits island to observe relief efforts after Hurricane Maria

US President Donald Trump walks past hurricane wreckage as he participates in a walking tour with First Lady Melania Trump, Guaynabo Mayor Angel Perez Otero (second right) and Acting FEMA Administrator Brock Long (far right) as well as Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello (left) and his wife Beatriz Areizeaga in areas damaged by Hurricane Maria (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

President Donald Trump has said while on a trip to Puerto Rico to observe hurricane recovery efforts that the island’s massive debt will have to be wiped out.

“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,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News.

Puerto Rico, which earlier this year filed the biggest bankruptcy in US municipal history, is struggling to regain economic stability in the face of a $72 billion debt load and near-insolvent public health and pension systems.

Reuters