Trump floated idea of selling Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, says ex-Homeland Security head Duke - USA TODAY

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William Cummings USA TODAY

Published 10:13 AM EDT Jul 13, 2020

President Donald Trump raised the possibility of selling Puerto Rico in 2017 after Hurricane Maria devastated the U.S. territory, former acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke told The New York Times. 

"The president’s initial ideas were more of as a businessman, you know," she told the Times. "Can we outsource the electricity? Can we sell the island? You know, or divest of that asset?" 

Duke, who took the helm at the Department of Homeland Security after retired Gen. John Kelly left to become White House chief of staff, said the possibility of selling Puerto Rico was "never seriously considered or discussed" after Trump floated the idea, according to the Times. 

Maria caused an estimated $43 billion to $159 billion in damage to the island and left nearly 3,000 people dead. 

Duke said she called for an emergency declaration before Maria made landfall but then-Director of Office of Management and Budget Mick Mulvaney told her to stop "being so emotional." 

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"It’s not about the people, it’s about the money," Mulvaney said, according to Duke. 

"I never made such a remark," Mulvaney told the Times. "My experience with the acting director was that she rarely got anything right at D.H.S. At least she’s consistent." 

After taking over for Kelly, Duke stayed in charge of DHS for about four months, from the end of July to early December, before she was replaced by Kirstjen Nielsen. Before replacing Kelly, Duke was deputy DHS secretary and had served nearly 30 years in government between her work there and at the Department of Defense. 

Duke said in August 2017 she was called to a White House meeting where she expected a discussion on Trump's pledge to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals that was started by former President Barack Obama to protect immigrants who arrived in the U.S. as children from deportation. She said the meeting was "an ambush" where she was pressured to sign a memo terminating DACA. 

Duke told the Times the "room was stacked" with immigration opponents like Stephen Miller and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. While she did not disagree with their conclusions about DACA, she resented not being part of the discussion over how to handle it, the Times reported. 

Last month, the Supreme Court blocked the White House effort to end the program, ruling the order to terminate it was "arbitrary and capricious" because it did not "provide a reasoned explanation for its action." 

Duke claimed she did not provide such reasons because she did not agree with Sessions and Miller's arguments for ending the program, though she backed the White House position that DACA "isn't a legal program." 

"What was missing for me is really that process of discussing it," Duke told the Times. 

"It is a grave decision not only from a legal standpoint but from the effect it will have on not just 700,000 people but 700,000 people plus their families." 

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In response to Duke's interview, which the Times said constituted her first public comments since leaving the administration, White House spokesman Judd Deere told the paper that Trump "has kept his promise to the American people to reduce illegal immigration, secure the border, lower the crime rate and maintain law and order." 

"He has never wavered in his highest obligation to the American people: their safety and security," Deere told the Times. 

Duke said Trump's White House puts ideology and politics ahead of policy. 

"There is a singular view that strength is mean, that any kind of ability to collaborate, or not be angry is a weakness," she told the Times. She said Trump embraces "hate-filled, angry and divisive" language that distracts from the real issues. 

Duke is the latest former top White House security official to denounce Trump's handling of the job, joining Kelly, former Secretary of Defense James Mattis and former national security adviser John Bolton. 

Despite her misgiving, Duke, a lifelong Republican, said deciding whom to vote for in November is "a really hard question." 

"But given the choices, I don’t know yet." 

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