By now, it’s well known that The New York Times has copies of President Donald Trump’s tax returns and that Trump routinely lies about everything, but particularly about his political opponents. One repeated lie from Trump throughout the 2020 campaign cycle is that Joe Biden will be “owned by China” should he win the presidency, which he insists is due to Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, having done business there and having been paid millions of dollars.
Not only is that not true, a new report from The New York Times shows just how much of a hypocrite the president really is when it comes to financial dealings in China.
NEW: President Trump's tax records reveal a previously unknown bank account he has in China, where he's spent a decade pursuing business deals. w/@russbuettner, @susannecraig https://t.co/lklgXCqe9x
— Mike McIntire (@mmcintire) October 20, 2020
Republicans in the Senate released a report saying that Hunter Biden had opened a bank account in China, which they said was proof of his father’s corruption somehow and Trump has used it as an attack against his Democratic rival. As it turns out, Trump’s tax return lists a bank account in China owned by the Trump Organization, through which the president has earned money. In fact, he earned enough there to be required to pay nearly 200,000 in taxes, or about 188,000 more than he paid in the United States.
‘It turns out that China is one of only three foreign nations — the others are Britain and Ireland — where Mr. Trump maintains a bank account, according to an analysis of the president’s tax records, which were obtained by The New York Times. The foreign accounts do not show up on Mr. Trump’s public financial disclosures, where he must list personal assets, because they are held under corporate names. The identities of the financial institutions are not clear.’
"The Chinese account is controlled by Trump International Hotels Management L.L.C., which the tax records show paid $188,561 in taxes in China while pursuing licensing deals there from 2013 to 2015." https://t.co/2Xm4DIdANA
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 20, 2020
A lawyer for the Trump Organization, Alan Garten, insists that the account was opened when potential business deals in China were on the table, but that no business deals have ever been made by their office in China and that it’s not been active since 2015. That doesn’t explain the amount of money Trump owed there in taxes, nor does it explain why the office or the bank account are still open.
‘”No deals, transactions or other business activities ever materialized and, since 2015, the office has remained inactive,” Mr. Garten said. “Though the bank account remains open, it has never been used for any other purpose.’
“Mr. Garten would not identify the bank in China where the account is held. Until last year, China’s biggest state-controlled bank rented three floors in Trump Tower, a lucrative lease that drew accusations of a conflict of interest for the president.”
While the China and Trump news is being thrown around, just a reminder of what we already knew about those two: pic.twitter.com/TD5gz7NNsF
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) October 21, 2020
The news comes after Trump has spent months attacking Hunter Biden for doing the same thing, although Trump twisted the truth in his accusations about the son of his political opponent. Namely, he’s said that the younger Biden received large sums of cash, more than a million dollars, while in China with his father.
‘In a misleading claim amplified by surrogates like his son Donald Trump Jr. and his lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president has said the younger Mr. Biden “walked out of China” with $1.5 billion after accompanying his father on an official trip in 2013. Numerous news articles and fact-checking sites have explained that the huge figure was actually a fund-raising goal set by an investment firm in which Hunter Biden obtained a 10 percent stake after his father left office. The firm did receive financial backing from a large state-controlled bank, but it is not clear the fund-raising target was ever met, and there is no evidence Hunter Biden received a large personal payout.’
Trump on August 10: If Joe Biden wins, "China will own this country."
Ironic coming from the guy who pays more in taxes to China than the United States. Sounds like China owns Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/6tnha6bevi
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) October 21, 2020