Trump floated swapping Puerto Rico for Greenland because 'the people were poor' and 'dirty' in Puerto Rico, according to former DHS chief of staff

• During an MSNBC interview Wednesday, a former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security revealed a request he said he heard from President Donald Trump.
• "He actually said ... could we swap Puerto Rico for Greenland because, in his words, Puerto Rico was 'dirty' and 'the people were poor,'" former DHS chief of staff Miles Taylor told MSNBC's Hallie Jackson.
• Taylor said Trump made the offensive comments ahead of a 2018 trip to Puerto Rico for hurricane relief.
• The former official added Trump expressed "deep animus for the Puerto Rican people behind the scenes" and that he did not believe Trump was joking.

Former Department of Homeland Security chief of staff Miles Taylor made a surprising revelation during an MSNBC interview Wednesday.

Taylor, who has been speaking out about his time in the Trump administration in recent days, told MSNBC's Hallie Jackson that he heard Trump float a swap deal for Puerto Rico and Greenland during summer 2018.

According to Taylor, Trump made the comments ahead of an August 2018 trip to Puerto Rico for hurricane relief.

—Republican Voters Against Trump (@RVAT2020) August 19, 2020

"He actually said he wanted to see if we could sell Puerto Rico — could we swap Puerto Rico for Greenland because, in his words, Puerto Rico was 'dirty' and 'the people were poor,'" Taylor said.

"These are Americans, Hallie. We don't talk about our fellow Americans that way," he added.

When Jackson asked if Trump was joking, Taylor said, "I did not take it as a joke."

Taylor also said Trump expressed "deep animus for the Puerto Rican people behind the scenes."

White House spokesman Judd Deere told Insider in an email that Taylor is "another creature of the D.C. Swamp who never understood the importance of the President's agenda or why the American people elected him and clearly just wants to cash-in."

Deere added: "President Trump has an unprecedented number of accomplishments in spite of government bureaucrats who are only out for themselves, not the forgotten men and women of this country."