Trump Continues to Fail Puerto Rico

...The fact is that Puerto Rico has been destroyed by two hurricanes. Big decisions will have to be made as to the cost of its rebuilding!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 29, 2017

This is the President of the United States suggesting that the federal government might decide not to rebuild Puerto Rico if it's too costly https://t.co/1LYbHS4Cnb

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) September 29, 2017

This is something Donald Trump did not say about Texas or Florida, following hurricanes Harvey and Irma. It would have been unthinkable, even for Trump, to suggest that the federal government might simply decide not to rebuild.

But Puerto Rico, he suggests, might not be rebuilt because of "the cost" — even as he peddles a tax plan that could personally save him alone $1 billion.

And let me be perfectly blunt in my cynicism: Donald Trump is a real estate developer who has repeatedly talked about making money by exploiting economic disasters. There is no reason to believe that he doesn't also see opportunity in natural disasters.

If the federal government rebuilt Puerto Rico, particularly its valuable beachfront tourism real estate, that keeps the wealth in the hands of current owners — and provides little opportunity for corporate ghouls to exploit the destruction for their own gain.

Trump never fully divested himself from the Trump Organization. His sons are running the business, and no "firewall" was ever erected between the business and the Oval Office. Trump has a personal interest in creating areas of exploitation in Puerto Rico.

That's a big fucking problem. Most of all for Puerto Ricans, who are suffering an increasingly urgent humanitarian crisis while their president is licking his lips at the possibility of turning their sorrow into his payday.