China’s preliminary approval of dozens of new trademarks for businesses and products owned by President Donald Trump and his family raises fresh questions about potential conflicts of interest with foreign governments, several Senate Democrats say…
China’s preliminary approval of dozens of new trademarks for businesses and products owned by President Donald Trump and his family raises fresh questions about potential conflicts of interest with foreign governments, several Senate Democrats say. Sens. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Dianne Feinstein of California and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said Wednesday the trademarks are the clearest example of how the Trump Organisation can benefit from actions of foreign governments. China is “trying to curry favour with the president of the United States,” Cardin said at a news conference in Washington. Cardin, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations panel, has introduced legislation calling on Trump to divest from the Trump Organisation or put his assets in a blind trust. “This is a controlled country where the political leadership makes all the important decisions,” he said. “So granting these trademarks to the president of the United States was clearly cleared through the highest sources within the Chinese government, because that’s how they operate on matters like this.” Feinstein called on Trump to establish far more distance from his company, and said he is “blatantly defying” a constitutional prohibition on government officials receiving financial benefits from foreign governments without Congress’s consent. “It’s appalling that the president refuses to address this crystal clear conflict of interest,” Feinstein, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said in a statement. “He should immediately divest and create a blind trust, and he must be transparent about his business interests. Instead, we’re seeing a president who appears eager to leverage his office for personal gain.
