Pro-statehood attorney Gregorio Igartúa de la Rosa, a member of the local Republican Party, is disputing reports that President Donald Trump opposes statehood for Puerto Rico, saying a recent letter he received from the president contained no statement rejecting either statehood or the island’s incorporation into the United States. In a statement released this week, Igartúa said recent news reports portraying Trump as opposed to statehood were based on older information and did not reflect his most recent communication with the president.
He said he wrote to Trump last month outlining what he described as majority support in Puerto Rico for incorporation and eventual statehood, and that Trump responded by thanking him for the information on Puerto Rico’s legal relationship with the United States. Igartúa also revealed he wrote to billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk in a letter dated October 29, 2026, urging him to become better informed about Puerto Rico’s political status and the federal voting rights issues affecting U.S. citizens on the island.
He argued Puerto Ricans are citizens by birth and should not face discrimination over their political preferences, said a copy went to Trump, and contended Musk, who does business in Puerto Rico, lacks sufficient knowledge of the island’s legal relationship and should not be treated as authoritative. Igartúa called on statehood advocates and leaders of both major U.S. parties to keep briefing Washington policymakers on the status issue.