Mighty Trump Will Wipe Out Puerto Rico's Debt...

Puerto Rico bond prices fell Wednesday after President Donald Trump said the U.S. territory’s roughly $70 billion in debt may get out wiped out to help the island recover from Hurricane Maria.

“You can say goodbye to that,” Mr. Trump said in an interview on Fox News during his visit to Puerto Rico. It wasn’t immediately clear how the U.S. would do that.

- WSJ

Goodbye says Trump, and so it will be gone!

Is this realistic? If not, why do the bond markets even react to this statement? If yes, how is this conceivable? What needs to happen for PR to be able to file for Bankruptcy? Is bankruptcy the best solution in the long term?

15 Comments
 

His comments on North Korea definitely had effect on gold over the past few months. Why wouldn't the markets react to this?

“The only thing I know is that I know nothing, and i am no quite sure that i know that.” Socrates
 

Government bonds would lose massive creditability throughout the world. Some of it is in retirement and pension accounts too..

26 Broadway where's your sense of humor?
 

All that debt is just not going to vanish.

Yesterday I was reading that Baupost still held some of the PR bonds which piqued my interest. Why would a guy like Seth Klarman be holding onto bonds that supposedly have no value?

I believe he will be running the same play that he did with Iceland when their banks collapsed. He bought over bonds, if i remember correctly, of these banks which were trading for cents at the time only to make a huge profit later on.

So its abundantly clear that all that debt is not going to vanish into thin air, and I guess the markets knows this too.

"The markets are always changing , and they are always the same."
 

No, it is not even close to being realistic. President Trump has made so many off-hand promises only to have his very own administration curtail him. Whether it is Chinese tariffs or withdrawing from NATO. OMB Director Mulvaney said that the White House wasn't going to pay off PR's debt less than 24 hours after Trump made the remark.

The other fact is even if the Trump administration was 100% for wiping out PR's debt, it would never pass the House or Senate. Not even the Democrats have been crazy enough to propose simply wiping PR's debt.

 

Qui et voluptatem ea explicabo. Qui laudantium recusandae in fuga beatae. Illo error totam fugiat atque odio porro ipsa et. Rem voluptas enim inventore qui et sed. Ut dolorem consequuntur hic enim ab voluptatem. Accusantium inventore est suscipit neque. Quis nesciunt temporibus a expedita aperiam blanditiis.

Placeat expedita reprehenderit et doloribus corrupti veritatis. Deleniti dolores distinctio ut quo. Provident nisi neque dolorem qui ut. Sint dolor nemo et. Perspiciatis animi placeat sint velit quia quis in. Doloribus quibusdam consequatur molestias hic quo vero quibusdam.

Career Advancement Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.7%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

July 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (15) $434
  • Associates (46) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”