The reported exchange in Osaka came just a month before Trump in July 2019 met with victims of political persecution, including Uighurs, and declared of his devotion to religious rights, “I don’t think any president has taken it as seriously as me.”
Well, lookee here, it seems that Erik Prince, Betsy DeVos’ brother, the guy who has been helping stir up the violence in Portland, was involved in the internment camps for Uighurs. From The Guardian:
A Hong Kong-listed security firm founded by Erik Prince has signed a preliminary deal with authorities in China to build a training centre in Xinjiang, where Uighur Muslims have experienced a huge security crackdown.
Frontier Services Group, which specialises in providing security and logistics for businesses operating in risky regions, said it had signed a deal to run a training base in the city of Kashgar, according to a statement posted on its Chinese website.
The firm was founded by Erik Prince, a former US Navy Seal and the brother of the US education secretary, Betsy DeVos.
Prince was also the founder of the US military contractor Blackwater, whose mercenaries had a prominent and controversial role during Washington’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – including the 2007 killing of 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians by Blackwater employees.
K.
Trump praised China’s COVID-19 response repeatedly.
From my timeline on the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S.:
JANUARY 24, 2020
Trump Tweet:
“China has been working very hard to contain the coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American people, I want to thank President Xi!”
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/24/trump-thanks-chinas-xi-jinping-for-handling-of-coronavirus.html
JANUARY 30, 2020
The first case of person-to-person transmission in the US was reported.
The health and human services secretary, Alex M. Azar II, directly warned Mr. Trump of the possibility of a pandemic during a call on Jan. 30, the second warning he delivered to the president about the virus in two weeks. Azar warned Trump that the virus could become a pandemic and that China should be criticized for its lack of transparency, per the Times. The president, who was on Air Force One while traveling for appearances in the Midwest, responded that Mr. Azar was being alarmist. Trump dismissed Azar as alarmist and rejected the idea of criticizing China.
The World Health Organization declares an international health emergency.
Trump, during a speech in Michigan, said: “We have it very well under control. We have very little problem in this country at this moment — five. And those people are all recuperating successfully.”
“We think we have it very well under control. We have very little problem in this country at this moment — five — and those people are all recuperating successfully. But we’re working very closely with China and other countries, and we think it’s going to have a very good ending for us … that I can assure you.” — Trump in a speech in Michigan.
FEBRUARY 2, 2020
Trump goes on Sean Hannity’s show and claims: “We pretty much shut it down, coming in from China.” Trump extols our “tremendous relationship” with China, and adds: “We did shut it down, yes.”
FEBRUARY 7, 2020
A study was published in the medical journal JAMA, which found that found that 41% of the first 138 patients diagnosed at one hospital in Wuhan, China, were presumed to be infected in that hospital. The study's results indicated that the virus was very infectious. Some researchers were warning of the contagious nature of the virus earlier in February as well.
In a series of tweets on February 7, Trump again praised the Chinese President's handling of the crisis.
"Just had a long and very good conversation by phone with President Xi of China. He is strong, sharp and powerfully focused on leading the counterattack on the Coronavirus. He feels they are doing very well, even building hospitals in a matter of only days. Nothing is easy, but he will be successful, especially as the weather starts to warm & the virus hopefully becomes weaker, and then gone. Great discipline is taking place in China, as President Xi strongly leads what will be a very successful operation. We are working closely with China to help!"
"I just spoke to President Xi last night, and, you know, we're working on the -- the problem, the virus. It's a -- it's a very tough situation. But I think he's going to handle it. I think he's handled it really well. We're helping wherever we can."
The Trump administration sends 18 tons of medical supplies to China.
L.
China isn’t paying for Trump’s tariffs. You and I are.
From American Action Forum:
- Since taking office, President Trump has unilaterally imposed numerous new tariffs on steel, aluminum, and a variety of goods from China, creating upward pressure on prices in the United States.
- Based on 2019 import levels, U.S. and retaliatory tariffs currently impact over $470 billion of imports and exports, and President Trump’s tariffs are increasing annual consumer costs by roughly $57 billion annually.
- The tariffs are having a notable impact on trade levels, decreasing both imports and exports, which reduces consumers’ options and further increases prices in the United States.
M.
From the AP:
President Donald Trump spent a decade unsuccessfully pursuing projects in China, operating an office there during his first run for president and forging a partnership with a major government-controlled company, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
China is one of only three foreign nations — the others are Britain and Ireland — where Trump maintains a bank account, according to a Times analysis of the president’s tax records. The foreign accounts do not show up on Trump’s public financial disclosures, where he must list personal assets, because they are held under corporate names.
N. And about that bank account in China—
An analysis of Trump's tax records by the Times shows that the President holds a previously unreported bank account in China that was not included on his public financial disclosures because it is held under a corporate name. Trump also maintains bank accounts in Britain and Ireland.
The Chinese account, the newspaper said, is controlled by Trump International Hotels Management and it paid $188,561 in taxes in the country from 2013 to 2015.
While the tax records don't show how much money has moved through Trump's foreign accounts, the Internal Revenue Service mandates that filers disclose the portions of their incomes coming from foreign countries. Trump International Hotels Management reported only a few thousand dollars from China.
TRUMP AND CHINA: ANOTHER CHAPTER IN THE TRUMP CORRUPTION STORY