When President Trump tweeted on Sunday about ZTE, the Chinese telecom company, he initially left more than a few pundits and reporters puzzled.
The tweet seemingly demanded that the Commerce Department reverse — or substantially cut back — a ruling that U.S. firms could not do business with ZTE for seven years, as a result of findings that the company was selling goods to North Korea and Iran.
Was the president attempting to play nice with China prior to his planned summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in June? Was he really concerned about the Chinese jobs lost as a result of the ban, as he claimed on Twitter, and trying to dial down trade hostilities? Or was his real concern with American jobs, as he appeared to indicate on Monday; that is, the positions that could be lost after the firm no longer purchases parts from American companies for use in its products? Or something else entirely?
Ha. Ha. Ha. We should have known that there is another possible explanation — one involving Trump’s personal bottom line.
As it turns out, the South China Morning Post reported last week that a real estate development project in Indonesia, containing a number of hotels, homes — and let’s not forget the golf course — bearing the Trump name, received $500 million in loans from the Chinese government.
At Monday’s White House news conference, reporters asked how, precisely, the involvement of China in the Indonesia resort project didn’t violate the emoluments clause of the Constitution, and how it squares with the president’s assurances that the Trump Organization wouldn’t get involved in “foreign deals” as long as he remained in the White House. Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah recommended contacting the Trump Organization for comment.
