Trump Vows to Wipe Out Puerto Rico’s Debt. Can He Do That?<br />I don’t know if it’s Goldman Sachs, but whoever it is, you can wave goodbye to that.”<br />If Mr. Trump meant the federal government would work to help Puerto Rico have the debt forgiven,<br />that could result in major losses for investors large and small.<br />In an interview with Fox News, Mr. Trump said his administration would help Puerto Rico wipe out<br />the debt to help it recover from the extensive damage left by Hurricane Maria two weeks ago.<br />One said it was not clear how seriously they should take the remarks, citing promises like Mr. Trump’s so-far-unsuccessful<br />pledge to end the Affordable Care Act, the health care plan passed under President Barack Obama.<br />Most of Puerto Rico’s debt is in the form of municipal bonds, a type of debt governed primarily<br />by state laws — or territorial laws, in Puerto Rico’s case — not by the federal government.<br />“We have to look at their whole debt structure,” he told Geraldo Rivera, a Fox News correspondent, on “Hannity.”<br />“You know, they owe a lot of money to your friends on Wall Street, and we’re going to have to wipe that out.<br />And despite the reference to Goldman Sachs, Puerto Rico’s debt is held by a diverse universe of investors, including big hedge funds<br />and middle-class Puerto Ricans who thought it would make a safe retirement nest egg.
