Mulvaney: Don't take Trump's comment on wiping out Puerto Rico debt 'word for word'
Source: Politico
By POLITICO STAFF 10/04/2017 09:26 AM EDT
Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney on Wednesday appeared to dial back President Donald Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. would help wipe out Puerto Rico’s massive debt load.
“I wouldn't take it word for word with that,” Mulvaney said on CNN. “I spoke to the president about this at some length yesterday as we flew home on Air Force One, and what we are focusing on right now is … the federal effort is to make sure the island is safe and that we're rebuilding the island.”
Trump on Tuesday sparked confusion when he told Fox News in an interview that people are “going to say goodbye” to Puerto Rico’s debt problem.
“They owe a lot of money to your friends on Wall Street and we’re going to have to wipe that out,” Trump said. “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.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2017/10/04/puerto-rico-debt-trump-mick-mulvaney-response-243440
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By Justin Sink and Jennifer Epstein
October 3, 2017, 10:37 PM EDT October 4, 2017, 9:17 AM EDT
President Donald Trump’s budget chief said not to take the president’s suggestion that Puerto Rico’s debt would be “wiped out” literally, as the territory’s bonds plunged to a record low on Wednesday.
A benchmark general obligation bond due in 2035 plunged to a record low of 32 cents on the dollar Wednesday morning from 44 cents the previous day after the president’s remarks.
"I think what you heard the president say is that Puerto Rico is going to have to figure out a way to solve its debt problem,” Mick Mulvaney, director of the White House budget office, said in an interview Wednesday. “We are not going to bail them out. We are not going to pay off those debts. We are not going to bail out those bond holders."
