In a recent interview, President Trump roiled the municipal bond markets when he talked about forgiveness of Puerto Rican government debt, which totals more than $73 billion. “You know, they owe a lot of money to your friends on Wall Street, and we’re going to have to wipe that out,” the president said. “You can say goodbye to that. I don’t know if it’s Goldman Sachs, but whoever it is you can wave goodbye to that.”

There was already significantly less to wave goodbye to than there had been. Puerto Rico’s bonds were under significant pressure, trading just above 55 cents on the dollar when the storm hit. In the aftermath of Maria’s devastation, prices for the bonds were headed for a continued downward slide when Trump stepped on the accelerator. The response in the bond markets was swift and predictable, as the values of Puerto Rican municipal debt plunged immediately following the comments. The losses elicited little sympathy, as those on Main Street often cheer losses by Wall Street, particularly those by the evil “vampire squid” Goldman Sachs.

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The problem is that Trump’s narrative is incorrect. Puerto Rican debt is not all owned by Goldman Sachs or other large Wall Street banks. According to analysis by Cate Long, founder of the research firm Puerto Rico Clearinghouse, less than 25 percent of the Puerto Rican debt is held by hedge funds. The rest is owned by everyday investors, many through pension funds and mutual funds. Residents of Puerto Rico own more than 40 percent of the island’s outstanding debt. Some of the largest holdings are large mutual fund groups such as Oppenheimer Funds and Franklin Resources.

Debt and forgiveness of debt is something President Trump should intimately understand. Debt helped build his real estate fortune, and his companies have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection more than a handful of times. The effect of Chapter 11 is that a company can remain in business while wiping away many of its debts. White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney Mick MulvaneyMick Mulvaney to start hedge fund Fauci says positive White House task force reports don't always match what he hears on the ground Bottom line MORE quickly walked back Trump’s comments, trying to mitigate the damage. It was a play that is becoming fairly commonplace, employing some variation on the theme of “he really didn’t mean what he said.” In this case, it was, “I wouldn’t take it word for word with that.”

Trump’s comments about wiping out Puerto Rico’s debts reminded many market participants of his comments made in May 2016 when he was a presidential candidate. When speaking to CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin, Trump suggested he could renegotiate the terms on the national debt, in effect, paying creditors less than 100 cents on the dollar. While he later stated that he was misunderstood, his initial comments were very definitive. Perhaps the greatest advantage of the U.S. Treasury is the ability to borrow at the lowest interest rates in the world. Any sort of default on U.S. debt would damage that ability and markedly increase U.S. interest costs.

Had Trump tweeted those comments as president, we would likely experience a significant stock market sell-off. We have all witnessed what happens in financial markets when U.S. lawmakers simply threaten to not increase the debt ceiling. Imagine what an actual default or “renegotiation” would mean for the world bond and stock markets. Today, it may be comments about Puerto Rican debt. Tomorrow, it could be casual remarks about any other kind of sovereign or corporate obligation. The catalyst for the end to this nearly 10-year bull market could certainly be an economic slowdown in China or sabre-rattling with North Korea. Equally likely, however, is that the bull could be stopped in his tracks by a random midnight tweet.

Robert R. Johnson, PhD, CFA, is president and chief executive officer of the American College of Financial Services. He is co-author of Strategic Value Investing, Invest with the Fed and Investment Banking for Dummies.