Continue Like There's No Tomorrow
Puerto Rico: A U.S. Territory, Not a State
Puerto Rico has been part of the United States since 1898, yet it remains in the peculiar position of being neither a state nor a fully independent nation. Its residents are U.S. citizens but cannot vote in presidential elections, and the island survives on a mixture of federal subsidies, local patronage networks, and a government that has long lacked fiscal discipline. This structure has created a culture of dependency, corruption, and waste. Unlike states that must balance budgets and answer directly to taxpayers, Puerto Rico has operated under the assumption that Washington will always bail it out.
By the mid-2010s, this attitude produced a staggering $70 billion in debt and the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. Congress passed the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) in 2016 to impose accountability through a federal Financial Oversight and Management Board. On paper, this was supposed to restore fiscal responsibility, attract investors, and modernize the electric grid. In reality, it became just another bloated bureaucracy that consumed billions, protected insiders, and left ordinary Puerto Ricans in the dark—literally.
Fraud, Corruption, and Mismanagement
The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) is the clearest example of this rot. The company has not serviced its debt since 2015, cannot raise financing without federal handouts, and presides over one of the most unreliable power systems in the United States. Despite multiple restructuring agreements that would have resolved the crisis, the oversight board dragged its feet, changed terms, and drove creditors and PREPA further apart. Years of mismanagement, deferred maintenance, and political favoritism have left the grid brittle and unsafe.
Meanwhile, the costs of PROMESA have exploded. It was estimated at $370 million in 2016. Instead, the tab now exceeds $1.6 billion—more than four times higher. That money could have rebuilt infrastructure, but instead it went into endless litigation, consulting fees, and bureaucratic salaries. Puerto Ricans remain vulnerable to every storm, while Washington insiders enriched themselves.
President Trump saw through this charade. His decision to fire six of the seven board members was not an act of pettiness, but of common sense. He understood that the so-called overseers were failing creditors, failing residents, and wasting taxpayer money. As Trump put it, it was “time to restore common sense leadership.”
Haiti and the Clinton Foundation Parallel
Puerto Rico’s plight echoes another tragic story in America’s backyard: Haiti. After the 2010 earthquake, the Clinton Foundation and its allies promised billions in aid, economic development, and renewal. What Haiti received instead was corruption, cronyism, and broken promises. Projects never materialized. Money disappeared into the hands of well-connected contractors and NGOs. The Haitian people saw little benefit while the Clintons and their associates gained influence and prestige.
This pattern—grand promises, endless spending, and no results—is precisely what we see in Puerto Rico. Washington’s bipartisan “solution” only made matters worse. Like Haiti, the island became a staging ground for photo-ops and talking points rather than genuine reform. The outrage is justified: American taxpayers poured in billions, yet the lights still go out when a storm passes.
Billions Wasted, Trump’s Course Correction
Puerto Rico and Haiti together tell a larger story of how U.S. aid and oversight often enrich elites while abandoning ordinary citizens. In both cases, Washington insiders and political families treated suffering populations as pawns in a larger game of power and profit. And in both cases, the American taxpayer picked up the tab.
Trump’s decision to act was rooted in the same instinct that drives his broader agenda: stop wasting billions on failed bureaucracies and corrupt insiders, and put accountability back where it belongs. Critics may sneer that Trump was motivated by bondholders or politics, but the record is clear—the oversight board failed, Puerto Rico’s infrastructure is still collapsing, and U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill for incompetence.
President Trump Continues to Make America Great Again
Puerto Rico’s century-long limbo status has fostered dependency and corruption. PROMESA was supposed to fix the problem but only replicated the same failures seen in Haiti after the Clinton Foundation’s so-called rescue. Billions have been squandered, and ordinary people are left with nothing but broken systems and broken promises.
Thank God for President Trump. He saw through the fraud, the waste, and the corruption that others ignored. By firing the failed overseers, he sent a clear message: no more business as usual. Fire them. Defund them. Shut down the parasites who live off endless taxpayer money. Trump’s leadership is about accountability, about putting America first, and about refusing to let Washington bureaucrats treat Puerto Rico like a piggy bank.
This is what bold leadership looks like. It is decisive, unapologetic, and relentless. Keep it up, President Trump.
