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- A former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff revealed a request he heard from President Donald Trump in an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday.
- “He actually said … could we swap Puerto Rico for Greenland because, in his words, Puerto Rico was ‘dirty’ and ‘people were poor’,” the former head of state said- DHS Major Miles Taylor to Hallie Jackson of MSNBC.
- Taylor said Trump made offensive comments ahead of a 2018 trip to Puerto Rico for hurricane relief.
- The former official added that Trump had expressed “deep animosity for the Puerto Rican people behind the scenes” and did not believe Trump was joking.
- Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
Former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff Miles Taylor made a startling revelation during an interview with MSNBC on Wednesday.
Taylor, who has spoken about his stint in the Trump administration in recent days, told MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson he overheard Trump launch an exchange deal for Puerto Rico and Greenland in the summer of 2018.
According to Taylor, Trump made the comments ahead of an August 2018 trip to Puerto Rico for hurricane relief.
—Republican Voters Against Trump (@ RVAT2020) August 19, 2020
“He actually said he wanted to see if we could sell Puerto Rico – could we trade Puerto Rico for Greenland because, in his words, Puerto Rico was ‘dirty’ and ‘people were poor’,” he said. Taylor said.
“They’re Americans, Hallie. We don’t talk about our fellow Americans that way,” Taylor said.
When Jackson asked if Trump was joking, Taylor replied, “I didn’t take it as a joke.”
Taylor also noted that Trump expressed “deep animosity for the Puerto Rican people behind the scenes.”
White House spokesman Judd Deere told Insider in an email that Taylor was “another DC Swamp creature who never understood the importance of the president’s agenda or why the people American elected him and clearly wants to cash “.
“President Trump has an unprecedented number of accomplishments despite government bureaucrats who are only for themselves, not the forgotten men and women of this country.”
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