Transcript - Interview: Donald Trump Interviewed by Geraldo Rivera of Fox News in Puerto Rico - October 4, 2017

Geraldo Rivera

00:00:00 - 00:00:13 (13 sec)

President of the United States. Thank you for coming. I'm sorry you are seeing the island under the circumstances. Many people fear because of the awful tragedy in Vegas he would be diverted. You came anyway. Why?

Donald Trump

00:00:13 - 00:00:34 (21 sec)

Well there are special people -- I know many people from Puerto Rico, I come from a place called New York and I love the Puerto Rican people. I know the island very well. I've been here many times. We have to help. We've done a fantastic job. It was a very tough one. An A+ in Texas. An a+ in Florida.

Donald Trump

00:00:34 - 00:00:45 (12 sec)

And we may have done our best work here but it hasn't been appreciated but actually if you see over the last couple of days, people are seeing what we've done. The runways are open. The ships are pouring in. A lot of things are happening. It's great.

Geraldo Rivera

00:00:45 - 00:01:04 (19 sec)

On the note of not being appreciated, I know the mayor of San Juan -- she is a probable Democratic candidate for governor in 2020. She did not applaud. Welcome to the bitter partisan politics of Puerto Rico. We've been blamed from everything the kids dying to cholera epidemic that didn't exist.

Donald Trump

00:01:04 - 00:01:18 (14 sec)

I don't know the mayor but she was very, very nice at the beginning. She says it's incredible what happened and all of a sudden she went a little bit on the nasty side. And I guess she is running for office and it turns out I was right. Isn't that a shock?

Donald Trump

00:01:18 - 00:01:35 (17 sec)

Your current governor, he is been amazing. Your congresswoman has been absolutely amazing and the people, I met your state Senators and lots of other people. Virtually every mayor has been so thankful. The job we've done.

Donald Trump

00:01:35 - 00:01:48 (13 sec)

It's the job of the Navy and Army and Air Force and Marines. The whole thing. The U.S. Coast Guard, what they've done, the lives they have saved -- the people are really very thankful.

Geraldo Rivera

00:01:48 - 00:02:05 (17 sec)

battered by two historic storms that wiped out a power grid that was already indicated. Poorly maintained. Corruptly managed. What do you do? Is the Marshall plan rebuilding, will we see a Trump plan to rebuild this poor island?

Donald Trump

00:02:05 - 00:02:18 (13 sec)

We are going to help the people. A lot of people and a lot of debt, they have 72 billion in debt before the hurricane hits. And had a power plan that didn't work before the hurricane we are going to help them.

Donald Trump

00:02:18 - 00:02:35 (18 sec)

We are going to get it back in its feet. I'm very proud of the fact that if you look at one statistic, 16 deaths. That is a lot of dust. But 16 -- if you look at Katrina, they had in the thousands. This was a storm, the likes of which nobody has ever seen.

Donald Trump

00:02:35 - 00:02:46 (11 sec)

We had FEMA before the storm even came. They were on the island during the storm, they were on the island before the first storm. They got hit by two hurricanes. We are very proud of the job we've done.

Donald Trump

00:02:46 - 00:02:59 (13 sec)

Now we will have to try to get them back, the power is slowly getting on. The roads are open. The runways are open. These people that you've met today, the first responders, these are incredible people.

Geraldo Rivera

00:02:59 - 00:03:09 (10 sec)

I totally agree. It's been so impressive to see, the message to the Puerto Rican people, to what extent do you commit to help rebuild this battered place?

Donald Trump

00:03:09 - 00:03:20 (11 sec)

We are going to work something out. They owe a lot of money to your friends on Wall Street. We will have to wipe that out. It's going to have to be, you can say good-bye to that.

Donald Trump

00:03:20 - 00:03:28 (8 sec)

I don't know if it's Goldman Sachs but whoever it is, you can wave good-bye to that. We have to do something about, because the debt was massive on the island.

Geraldo Rivera

00:03:28 - 00:03:33 (5 sec)

My aunt Ellie doesn't care about that. She wants some help -- she wants to hear from you.

Donald Trump

00:03:33 - 00:03:49 (16 sec)

We are going to help the people out. We are going to get the electric going again. It was a complete wipeout. It was a lot of very valuable equipment. It was equipment in bad shape but we are going to put it in good shape.

Geraldo Rivera

00:03:49 - 00:03:51 (2 sec)

I really appreciate it.

Donald Trump

00:03:51 - 00:03:54 (3 sec)

You been a great friend. Thank you.