Trump's millions from Turkey and the Philippines are corrupt
by Timothy P. Carney, Senior Columnist |
When President Trump speaks glowingly of brutal strongmen atop the
governments in Turkey and the Philippines, remember that he’s making millions
of dollars in these countries with the tacit approval of these authoritarian
governments.
Trump’s personal finances depend on the goodwill of Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and Rodrigo Duterte, who are not good guys.
Trump earned $73 million from his overseas businesses
during his first two years as president, according
to the New York Times. About $3
million of that is from Duterte’s Philippines, and about $1 million is from
Erdogan’s Turkey.
Duterte and Erdogan are known for their offenses against
human rights and liberal democracy. Duterte has been excoriated for
extrajudicial killings, arbitrary imprisoning, and punishment of political
dissent. Erdogan
has severely restricted free speech and political dissent, locking up
critics, and his regime has been accused of torturing or “disappearing”
dissidents.
In a 2015 interview with Breitbart News, Trump was asked about
Erdogan’s regime in Turkey, and he said, “I have a little conflict
of interest because I have a major, major building in Istanbul, and it's a
tremendously successful job. It's
called Trump Towers — two towers instead of one, not the usual one,
it's two. And I've gotten to know Turkey very well, and they are amazing
people, they're incredible people, they have a strong leader.”
Trump is right: This is a conflict of interest. Trump
should have unloaded all his foreign business operations upon coming into
office, and Congress should have passed a law forcing him to.
Trump personally profits from authoritarian and unreliable
regimes. If Trump took actions that upset Erdogan, such as threatening
sanctions in response to human rights abuses or getting in the way of Erdogan’s
designs on Kurd-controlled regions, he could be harming his own profits by
provoking a response from Erdogan or simply by weakening a regime that is
friendly to Trump’s business.
It’s crucial to remember that businesses in a place like
Turkey are more dependent on the government than are businesses in freer
economies such as the United States and the United Kingdom. State-owned banks
in Turkey have been propping up businesses, especially
tourism.
The worries here apply to the Philippines as well, where
Duterte exercises
tight control over foreign business operations. He could easily cut off
Trump’s businesses if Trump were to upset him.
The president shouldn’t be in a position to lose or gain
millions depending on the good favor of a foreign leader, and it’s even more
corrupt when the foreign leader is himself a corrupt and abusive authoritarian.
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