Donald Trump’s tax records show he has had expansive business dealings in China for many years. Trump has also maintained a bank account in China. These discoveries were first reported on Tuesday by the New York Times.
These discoveries put a real damper on the Trump campaign’s efforts to paint Joe Biden as being “soft” on China.
The Times reports that Trump holds a previously unreported bank account in China that was never included in any of his public financial disclosures because it is held under a corporate name. Trump also has bank accounts in Britain and Ireland.
Reportedly the Chinese bank account is controlled by Trump International Hotels Management. Between 2013 and 2015 it paid $188,561 in taxes in the country.
Earlier reporting by the Times showed he paid just $750 in US taxes in 2016 and 2017.
His tax records do not show how much money has moved through the bank account.
The Internal Revenue Service mandates that filers disclose the portions of their incomes coming from foreign countries and the Trump International Hotels Management reported only a few thousand dollars from China.
Alan Garten, the attorney of record for the Trump Organization, refused to tell the Times the name of the Chinese bank that has the open account.
Garten specifically said the company had opened the account once an office was opened in China “to explore the potential for hotel deals in Asia.”
“No deals, transactions or other business activities ever materialized and, since 2015, the office has remained inactive,” he told the newspaper. “Though the bank account remains open, it has never been used for any other purpose.”
Trump has repeatedly tried to paint Biden as weak when it comes to China, but his own financial ties to China are a stark contrast to Biden’s financial records that show absolutely no ties to China.
Trump’s tax records show he has invested at least $192,000 in five companies in China over multiple years. Since 2010, Trump has claimed more than $97,000 in expenses.
This coming after President Trump’s middle son Eric defended an earlier report that just $750 was paid in U.S. taxes in 2016 and 2017. Eric sounded off on ABC show ‘This Week’. He punched back at a recent New York Times report painting his father in a bad light.
Eric Trump continues to defend his father’s business dealings, which is a direct response to a New York Times article The Times suggested that president leveraged his political position to garner new income streams through his hotels and golf courses.
The Trump Organization’s Executive Vice President looked to set things straight. “We’ve lost a fortune. My father has lost a fortune running for president. He doesn’t care. He wanted to do what was right.”
Then added, “The last thing I can tell you Donald Trump needs in the world is this job. He wakes up in the morning, and he has to fight you, and he has to fight the entire media. He has to fight the Democrats, and he gets punched in the head every single day,”
NEW: “My father has lost a fortune,” Eric Trump tells @jonkarl when pressed on a NYT report that Pres. Trump turned “his own hotels and resorts into the Beltway’s new back rooms, where public and private business mix and special interests reign.” https://t.co/fsCP2um0H5 pic.twitter.com/MtZLiszs2K
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) October 11, 2020
Eric Trump testified last week as part of New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ wide ranging probe into President Trump’s finances. He had previously argued that election season would necessitate a delay in proceedings.
But was later compelled by Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engeron to testify in early October. His attorneys did not comment on the matter. But apparently Eric had a bone to pick and tore into it.
When pressed by ABC host Jonathan Karl about the New York Times piece, Eric switched gears. And he set sights on rival Joe Biden. In particular the former Vice President’s lush lifestyle.
As he declared, “Go Google Biden’s house right now and tell me if you think that a person who’s been in government for 47 years can afford that mansion on the water in Wilmington, Delaware.”
After Karl, once again, asked him to address the article, Eric Trump said, “We’re a hospitality company. We’ve got tens of millions of people staying at our properties every single year.
The New York Times is absolute fake news. All they want to do is take down my father.” He then said, U.S. media has become an “activist arm for the Democratic Party.”
Karl said, “Eric, we’re asking legitimate questions”, but Eric wasn’t having it.
