Trump vows to 'wipe out' Puerto Rico's $73 billion debt

President Trump promised relief for debt-wracked and hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico on Tuesday, although he was not clear on specifics. "We're going to do something," Trump told Fox News' Geraldo Rivera on Hannity. "We're going to get it back on its feet."

Puerto Rico's $73 billion in debt stems from a recession that began in 2006, and complications with the fact that by virtue of being a territory, the island cannot invoke bankruptcy. It isn't clear if the federal government can simply erase what San Juan owes, especially as the debt is held by a constellation of sources, ranging from "big hedge funds" to "middle-class Puerto Ricans who thought it would make a safe retirement nest egg," The New York Times writes.

"You know, they owe a lot of money to your friends on Wall Street, and we're going to have to wipe that out," Trump told Rivera. "You can say goodbye to that. I don't know if it's Goldman Sachs, but whoever it is, you can wave goodbye to that." Jeva Lange

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Watch the latest video at &<span class="scayt-misspell-word" data-scayt-word="lt" data-scayt-lang="en_US">lt</span>;a <span class="scayt-misspell-word" data-scayt-word="href" data-scayt-lang="en_US">href</span>="http://video.foxnews.com">video.foxnews.com&<span class="scayt-misspell-word" data-scayt-word="lt" data-scayt-lang="en_US">lt</span>;/a>