(This photo of a ZTE building in Shanghai is by Getty Images and found at nbcnews.com.)ZTE is a Chinese telecom company. The company was sanctioned by the United States for dealing with Iran and North Korea while sanctions were in place. They were also suspected by American intelligence of using the phones they sold in the United States to spy on this country.
Why then did Donald Trump order the U.S. government to lift the sanctions against ZTE and allow them to once again buy American parts for their products? And he did it only a few days after re-imposing sanctions against Iran. Why was he worried about a Chinese company and Chinese jobs -- while threatening our European allies for continuing to respect the Iran Agreement and doing business with Iran? Why is the Chinese company allowed to do what our best (and most reliable) allies cannot do?
The answer is corruption. It seems that the Chinese have promised to invest $500 million in an Indonesian real estate development -- a development that Trump has an interest in. He was paid $3.7 million to use his name, and when the development is completed will be paid to supervise many of the properties in that development. But that would only happen if the development was completed, and the Chinese investment assures that will happen.
It seems that the way to Trump's pleasure is through his bank account. If you pay him (or his companies) then you can avoid sanctions. If you don't, you could be crippled by those same sanctions -- even if you are a long and trusted ally of this country.
There is no longer any doubt that Donald Trump is heading the most corrupt presidential administration this country has ever seen.
