This would be a huge scandal for any other president.
A South Korean company challenging Commerce Department trade penalties paid Donald Trump’s holding company $2,000,000 last year.
The payment came from Base Group, the lead investor in Korea Aluminium, which faced penalties after the Commerce Department found that South Korean companies were circumventing trade duties on Chinese-made aluminum. The money surfaced in Trump’s annual financial disclosure released in late June.
The disclosure described it only as a nonrefundable development fee tied to a letter of intent. The Trump Organization says it relates to an unannounced golf course project.
Base Group has courted the Trump family for nearly a decade. It sells Trump-branded wine in South Korea and hosted Eric Trump at its Seoul headquarters in February, where executives discussed expanding trade between the two countries.
As recently as last month, the Commerce Department was weighing whether to raise tariffs further on Korea Aluminium. A preliminary review released last week sided with American aluminum companies. The agency that decides this company’s fate answers to the president. The president took $2,000,000 dollars from its largest investor.
This is one payment. Trump’s holding company collected at least $125,000,000 from foreign sources last year, from more than a dozen countries.
Every president in modern history stepped away from their business to avoid even the appearance of a conflict. This president kept nearly 30 ventures with foreign partners and now profits from companies whose fortunes his own government controls.
This cannot be normalized.
Either we will end the corruption, or the corruption will be the end of us.