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babylonsister

(171,104 posts)
Tue Dec 13, 2016, 08:04 PM Dec 2016

digby: Every despot on the planet has his number

Tuesday, December 13, 2016


Every despot on the planet has his number

by digby


This new Eichenwald piece for Newsweek on Trump's foreign entanglements and conflicts of interest is a must-read. This excerpt about the Trump organization's ties to the odious president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte show just how absurd it is that Trump believes he can avoid conflicts of interest simply by "turning the business over" to his sons and telling them not to make any "new deals" while he's president. "New deals" are not the only issue at stake, by far.

Recall that Trump had a very friendly chat with Duterte reportedly telling him that he thought he was handling his "drug war" the "right way."

The Trump family has an enormous financial interest in keeping Duterte happy. Trump Tower at Century City in Makati, Philippines, is on the verge of completion, with potential buyers having placed deposits on at least 94 percent of the condominiums, according to Century Properties, the Trump Organization’s business partner there. During the U.S. presidential campaign, Trump’s sons Donald Jr. and Eric traveled to Makati to shovel some dirt in a ceremony to celebrate the structural completion of the building; a photograph of the two men shoveling alongside top Century Properties executives was posted on the building’s website. (On that same website, a line of jewelry by Trump’s daughter Ivanka is offered for sale, and it is expected to be available for purchase at the $150 million property.) As with almost every property with Trump’s name on it built over the past decade, his company is not the developer; it merely sold its name to Century Properties to use on the building. Although details of the transaction are not public, contracts for other Trump branding deals reviewed by Newsweek show that they require a multimillion-dollar up-front payment as well as up to 25 percent of the developer’s revenue, year after year. So, under the deal, Trump’s children will be paid millions of dollars throughout their father’s presidency by Jose E.B. Antonio, the head of Century Properties.

Duterte recently named Antonio the special government envoy to the United States. The conflicts here could not be more troubling or more blatant: President Trump will be discussing U.S. policy in Southeast Asia with one of his (or his children’s) business partners, a man who is the official representative of a foreign leader who likens himself to Hitler. Also note that the Trump family has an enormous financial interest in Duterte’s deadly campaign: Rooting out crime in the Philippines is good for the real estate values.

The Trump family’s dealings in the Philippines will set off a constitutional crisis on the first day of Trump’s presidency, if anyone in the federal government decides to abide by the law. There is serious debate as to whether Trump will be violating the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause—which prohibits office holders from accepting gifts from foreign states—since the majority of his company’s business is with other corporations and developers. That is not the case in the Philippines. The man writing millions of dollars’ worth of checks to the Trump family is the Duterte government’s special representative to the United States. To argue that these payments will be constitutional if they are paid to the Trump children, and not to Trump personally, is absurd. This conflict demands congressional hearings, and could be an impeachable offense.


And that's nothing compared to what's going on with Turkey:

snip//

It isn't just Russia folks. It's every despot on the planet.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2016/12/every-despot-on-planet-has-his-number.html
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digby: Every despot on the planet has his number (Original Post) babylonsister Dec 2016 OP
Of course. Protecting his investments WhiteTara Dec 2016 #1

WhiteTara

(29,729 posts)
1. Of course. Protecting his investments
Tue Dec 13, 2016, 08:15 PM
Dec 2016

The Trump family has an enormous financial interest in keeping Duterte happy. Trump Tower at Century City in Makati, Philippines, is on the verge of completion, with potential buyers having placed deposits on at least 94 percent of the condominiums, according to Century Properties, the Trump Organization’s business partner there.

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