Trump Allegedly Suggested Selling Puerto Rico as Hurricane Maria Approached

[Danmel]

Source: Mother Jones

Donald Trump’s initial reaction to the devastating hurricanes that hit Puerto Rico in 2017 were to suggest that the United States sell, or “divest” from the territory, a former acting secretary of Homeland Security said on Friday. Elaine Duke, who served as Trump’s second secretary of Homeland Security, replacing John Kelly when he became Trump’s chief-of-staff, has become the latest former Trump cabinet member to speak out against her old boss, telling the New York Times in an interview this past week that Trump cares little about policy, and uses “hate-filled, angry and divisive” language.

Duke was acting secretary when she signed off on ending the DACA protections—the program set up by the Obama administration to protect young undocumented immigrants, known as Dreamers, from deportation. Duke told the Times that she agreed the program was illegal, but wasn’t ready to sign off on its closure, and that she was “ambushed” by Trump and his political allies at an August 2017 White House meeting. Last month the Supreme Court ruled that the DACA program was improperly ended—giving the Dreamers a reprieve, but also opening the door for the Trump administration to try again.



Read more: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2020/07/trump-allegedly-suggested-selling-puerto-rico-as-hurricane-maria-approached/&ved=2ahUKEwio9vLZzsbqAhUQlHIEHS9GAqMQFjABegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw2jtRfDE-lTi1XvfJ5mu4Ak

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No words

[sakabatou]

1. What. The. Fuck?!

[forgotmylogin]

27. He thought he could just dump it like a failing business.

I've got to go pick my jaw up off the floor.

[SunSeeker]

2. K & R for exposure.

[bucolic_frolic]

3. Alaska must be next. Russia, are you listening?

It was Seward's Folly, no?

[Wolf Frankula]

17. Sorry. That's not going to happen.

For the deal to go through, Russia would have to take all the Palin Family. Vladimir Putin told me, "NO WAY IN HELL!".

Wolf

[PatSeg]

19. Nope

Alaska is too white and they voted for Trump.

[Paladin]

21. Way too white, and way too many natural resources yet to be plundered. (nt)

[PatSeg]

22. Exactly

And no hurricanes. I swear, you'd think it was Trump's money the way he is so stingy with it. Other times he has no problem wasting money. He spends recklessly when its on things that he wants.

[niyad]

4. Oh, there are plenty of words, but agent mikey would not like hem. So this. . .person. .

admits that she is racist scum, but going to spill her guts now. . .wonder which investigation is breathing down her neck.

[George II]

5. What a sick, demented MFer.

[NBachers]

6. I suspect they've been trafficking in the lost & forgotten children; now they want to sell an entire

island territory full of people so they can get out from under their financial obligations to them.

[LudwigPastorius]

10. It's not just because Trump thought they were an economic liability.

It's also because they have brown skin.

[NBachers]

12. Thanks for pointing that out, too.

[lordsummerisle]

7. Suprising he didn't offer Denmark to trade

Puerto Rico for Greenland...

[milestogo]

8. So he could buy Greenland?

Or was it Denmark? Someplace where everyone is caucasian.

[LudwigPastorius]

9. Let me guess who he thought a good buyer would be.

[Baitball Blogger]

11. Typical response from a capitalist businessman.

Dump property and stocks that are going to cost you money. Give them twenty years and they will find a way to sell off the fifty states.

[colorado_ufo]

13. Time to make Puerto Rico a state,

before some other future nut in the Oval Office decides that this is a fine idea. Statehood is the only way to protect these people and give them the necessary aid that they need.

[James48]

14. Trade: he wanted to swap PR for Greenland.

But the owners didn’t want to trade.

[Cracklin Charlie]

15. Was he gonna put the money in his pocket?

Then I can see it.

[Warpy]

16. It must have come as a huge shock to him that he couldn't sell off parts of the country

or simply "divest," load them down with a lot of debt and then just cut them loose like vulture capitalists do.

If anything decent comes out of these miserable four years, it should be laughing anyone who says "run government like a business" not just out of the room, but out of the country.

[love_katz]

18. Boom!

I really love your last lines.

[PatSeg]

20. Yes

Maybe we can finally put that old tired cliche to rest finally.

[47of74]

23. Yeah that shows the limits of his consideration for people

As in none at all.

[paleotn]

24. To who?!

In recompense to all the crap Puerto Rico has put up with these 4 years, the least we can do is give them statehood.

[muriel_volestrangler]

25. No wonder he likes the confederate flag. He still wants to buy and sell people like assets

Puerto Rico is in trouble - sell! Greenland has potential for exploitation - buy!

[CBHagman]

26. The MO and the attitudes certainly ring true...

...to what we've seen from Trump in the past and see in the present: constant manipulation and bullying paired with zero regard for human beings.

[riversedge]

28. Trump only has muscle for brain cells.