Trump Falsely Claims He Was The First President To Visit Puerto Rico (He Was The 10th)

Trump bragged to reporters that people of Puerto Rico appreciated him being there and that he was the first president in history to make such a visit when he was the tenth.

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During a gaggle with reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said, “I think it meant a lot to the people of Puerto Rico that I was there. They really responded very nicely. And I guess it’s one of the few times anybody has done this. From what I am hearing it’s the first time that a sitting president has done something like this”.

Admittedly, his something like this description of the visit is vague. It could mean virtually anything, but it appears that Trump believes that he is the first president to visit Puerto Rico/.

Trump is wrong. He isn’t the first president to visit Puerto Rico. He isn’t even the ninth.

Teddy Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, and Barack Obama all made official visits before Trump. Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, and Gerald Ford all made unofficial visits to Puerto Rico.

Trump isn’t even the first Republican president to visit.

The President’s ignorance of US history is both astounding and predictable. Trump claimed that the Puerto Rican people loved having him there when all of the events he attended were heavily choreographed and loaded with supporters that were picked by the White House to attend.

Trump did make history in one respect. He has demonstrated that he is the most ignorant person to ever serve as president.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association