Raleigh –  A new report from Politico on the millions of dollars President Trump owes to the state-controlled Bank of China comes as he has heaped praise on the Chinese government’s response to the coronavirus crisis.

In February, Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping had handled the pandemic “really well” and was doing “a very good job with a very, very tough situation.” Meanwhile, Trump’s largely unscrutinized financial dealings with the Chinese government are beginning to come to light. 

Highlights: 

• “But Trump himself is tens of millions of dollars in debt to China: In 2012, his real estate partner refinanced one of Trump’s most prized New York buildings for almost $1 billion. The debt includes $211 million from the state-owned Bank of China — its first loan of this kind in the U.S. — which matures in the middle of what could be Trump’s second term, financial records show.”
• “But Trump’s recent criticisms of China have been muddied by his own mixed messaging as well as by his numerous financial ties to the country. Those connections extend far beyond the Avenue of the America’s loan: Chinese state-owned companies are constructing two luxury Trump developments in United Arab Emirates and Indonesia.”
• “The president and his daughter Ivanka Trump, a White House adviser, have been awarded trademarks by China’s government. And his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has courted Chinese investors in at least one other real estate deal.”

Read the full story HERE.