Ostensibly, the demonstrators were protesting the arrogant and crass exchanges by the governor and his inner circle in a leaked group chat and the corruption of top politicians unveiled by a series of high-profile arrests. But the forceful display on the streets of Old San Juan amounted to a rejection of decades of scandals and mismanagement involving affluent and disconnected leaders who have time and again benefited at the expense of suffering Puerto Ricans…

Some of Mr. Rosselló’s ambitious goals, including the push for statehood, will almost certainly be shelved now. And his rapidly diminishing power has handed political fuel to President Trump, who has derided the island’s leaders as not competent enough to manage federal disaster relief funds.

Now, Mr. Trump claims to be vindicated — even though some of Puerto Rico’s woes are not entirely of the island’s own making. Big Wall Street investors benefited for years from the Puerto Rican government’s willingness to keep taking on more debt. The island’s bankruptcy restructuring has cost jobs and, at one point, threatened public employees’ pensions and traditional Christmas bonuses.