Reprinted with permission from Shareblue.
The Trump administration lifted sanctions against Chinese telecom ZTE the same day the Chinese government approved new trademarks for his daughter Ivanka.
Sanctions had been imposed on ZTE after it violated prohibitions against doing business with Iran and North Korea.
The Trump administration then reversed course and undid the sanctions against the company on June 7.
On that same day, Ivanka Trump’s company was granted three new trademarks in China. Previously, Trump himself received Chinese trademark approvals while in the White House.
The intersecting private interests along with public policy again highlight how Trump’s administration has embraced the unethical practices of “the swamp” he has railed against.
The decision also came as a former Trump campaign staffer, Bryan Lanza, had his company sign a deal with ZTE.
In May, Ivanka Trump’s company also got trademark approval from China. The announcement occurred just a few days after her father said he would begin pursuing policies to relieve ZTE.
Even Trump’s own Republican Party has raised concerns about the sudden change in posture toward ZTE. The recently passed National Defense Authorization Act has an amendment that would undo Trump’s pro-ZTE agreements. The legislation passed 85-10 in the Senate.
Trump and his daughter invite and encourage concerns about corruption through their ongoing refusal to follow presidential traditions.
They have not divested from their private businesses and receive profits from them. The result is that policy decisions end up having personal financial implications.
Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner recently revealed that they brought in $82 million during their first year of working in the White House.
Trump and family are using the presidency for profit. Their actions continually appear to be undertaken with personal profit in mind instead of the national interest. It is a presidency consumed by corruption.
Published with permission of The American Independent.
