Donald Trump has nearly infinite ties to Russia. He illegally spent money in Cuba. And to complete the set, Donald Trump rented space to an Iranian bank—one that has ties to terrorism.
Donald Trump’s real estate organization rented New York office space from 1998 to 2003 to an Iranian bank that U.S. authorities have linked to terrorist groups and Iran’s nuclear program. …
U.S. officials later alleged that Bank Melli had been used to obtain sensitive materials for Iran’s nuclear program. U.S. authorities also alleged that the bank had been used between 2002 and 2006 to funnel money to a unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that has sponsored terrorist attacks — a period that overlapped with the time the bank rented office space from Trump.
It’s another instance where Trump’s extensive business ties put the Trump organization and the American government in potential conflict. Like the hundreds of millions that Trump owes troubled Deutsche Bank, and the hundreds of millions more he owes to The Bank of China.
The Trump Organization’s dealings with the Iranian bank shed more light on Trump’s wide-ranging business interests, which sometimes stand at odds with his blunt declarations on the campaign trail. Trump has denounced Iran as a “big enemy,” blasted Hillary Clinton for not taking a harder line against the Iranian regime and charged that donations from foreign governments to the Clinton Foundation amounted to evidence of corruption. His five-year stint as Bank Melli’s landlord provides an example of the Trump Organization itself doing business with a government hostile to the United States.
Hillary Clinton allowed foreign sources to put money into helping people around the world. Donald Trump allowed foreign sources to put money in his pocket.
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Unlike Trump’s dealings in Cuba, which were simply illegal, what Trump was doing with Bank Melli may have squeezed through a loophole.
At the time, the U.S. had a sweeping embargo in place which prohibited Americans from doing business with Iran, including receiving rent payments. However, some Iranian organizations were granted licenses exempting specific transactions from sanctions.
Both Bank Melli and the Trump Organization have declined to make a statement about whether the bank had such a license. The Trump campaign also declined to make a comment.
While Donald Trump was happy to take Iran’s check, he had other ideas about what we should do to the country.
At the time, Donald Trump called for the U.S. take a tougher line against the Iranian regime.
In 1987, he suggested in a speech in New Hampshire that the U.S. should attack Iran and seize some of its oil fields to hit back for what he described as Iran’s bullying of America.
Trump’s “take the oil” plan has two major problems: it’s impossible, and it’s a war crime. But Trump has been fixed on the idea for 30 years … so at least there is some bit of consistency in his foreign policy.