The Chinese know that one of the best ways to curry favor with any ruler is to shower riches on his family members. There are so many millionaires among the children of its leaders that they have a moniker: the Princelings.
This uniquely Chinese brand of influence peddling is now being lavished on President Trump’s Princelings and Princesslings. Suddenly, all kinds of business opportunities have opened up for Trump family members in the notoriously closed Chinese market.
Over the weekend, there was the unseemly spectacle of Jared Kushner’s sister, Nicole Meyer, hawking golden visas to connected Chinese investors if they would put $500,000 into one of the Kushners’ real estate projects in Jersey City. Ms. Meyer made her pitch just hours after Mr. Trump signed a measure renewing the visa program.
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At the recent Shanghai event for the Kushners’ New Jersey project, a reporter from The Washington Post was asked to leave. One of the organizers grabbed a reporter’s notebook and backpack, according to The Post.
Part of why Donald Trump won is that voters had extreme fatigue about the Clinton family’s ethical problems. His promise to end big-money corruption in Washington was taken seriously by his base. He could put his electoral future at risk by reneging on it.
