During a rally today in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, former Democratic President Barack Obama, mentioned the recently uncovered Chinese bank account of Republican President Donald Trump.
"Turns out, this was just reported in the last 48 hours, we know that he continues to do business with China. Because he's got a secret Chinese bank account," Obama said, referencing a New York Times story which found that Trump International Hotels Management (TIHM) had paid $188,561 in taxes to China between 2013 and 2015 while pursuing potential licensing deals.
"How is that possible?" Obama continued, "Can you imagine if I had a secret Chinese bank account when I was running for re-election? ... Fox News might have been a little concerned about that. They would have called me Beijing Barry."
Obama then mentioned a September Times article alleging that Trump only paid $750 in taxes to the IRS in 2016 and 2017, something the Trump campaign disavowed as "fake news."
"He may be sending more to foreign governments than he pays in the United States," Obama said, before adding, "Listen, my first job was at a Baskin Robbins when I was 18 years old. I think I might have paid more taxes that year working dispensing ice cream."
Trump Organization lawyer Alan Gartner said of the bank account, "No deals, transactions or other business activities ever materialized and, since 2015, the office has remained inactive. Though the bank account remains open, it has never been used for any other purpose."
TIHM also holds direct ownership of the THC China Development company which, in 2017, experienced an "unusually large spike" of $17.5 million in revenue for "management fees and other contract payments." The millions were more income than the company had made during the last five years combined. Also in 2017, Trump reportedly withdrew $15.1 million from the company's capital account.
The report of Trump's Chinese account occurred as his re-election campaign is accusing Hunter Biden, the son of Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, of corrupt business deals in China.
Trump's Chinese account also occurred amid the Trump administration's ongoing 23-month trade war with China that has so far culminated in each country placing billions of dollars worth of tariffs on each other's imported goods.
In June, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested that the Trump Administration may consider "decoupling" itself from China. Decoupling is the process of completely separating two countries' economies and supply chains, and doing so would represent a major change in U.S.-China relations.
Though the U.S. signed a trade deal with China, in early January, the deal collapsed after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, something Trump has repeatedly blamed on the Chinese government.
Newsweek contacted the Trump campaign for comment.
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October 22, 2020 at 05:31AM
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Obama Blasts Trump Over 'Secret Chinese Bank Account': 'They'd Call Me Beijing Barry' - Newsweek
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