Ivanka’s 16 Chinese trademarks—including for ‘coffins’—The Trump family’s cozy ties with China

Trump and Xi Jinping

Screenshot / Yahoo

Donald Trump has a relationship with China that has changed almost on a daily basis. While he criticizes the Chinese government, Trump has made money in business dealings there, as well as with Chinese investors.

What’s more, his children have also profited from their myriad businesses in China—and are poised to make more whenever they leave office. Ivanka, for instance, has been granted a great many Chinese trademarks, including for “coffins” (see below).

In a 2011 interview with Forbes, Trump described his relationship with China as, “I deal with China, as an example, a lot. It is never easy.  And, I’ve made some very big deals with the Chinese. I’ve come out on top, I’ve come out in great shape. I sell apartments to Chinese people. I get along great with them. It’s not like I’m anti-China.”

Here’s a list of all the public dealings Trump and his family have had with China.

1. Trump hotels in 20 Chinese cities

Trump standing at a podium

Screenshot/ShowTime

According to American Progress, Chinese news media interviewed the Trump Hotel’s CEO in 2016. He told attendees in a conference in Hong Kong that the Trump Hotel administration was planning on opening 20 to 30 hotels in Chinese cities. Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr. were planning on growing Scion hotels in other Chinese cities.

The Washington Post quoted senior vice president of global hotel development and acquisitions Todd G. Wynne-Parry as saying, “The Trump development team has identified Greater China as our top priority among high-potential emerging markets.”

2. Potential deal with the Chinese Evergrande Group

Perspective shot of a building with an American flag on top

Unsplash

In 2008, according to the South China Morning Post, Trump planned on funding an office complex in the Chinese city of Guangzhou, along with the Chinese investing company Evergrande Group. The building would have included office space, retail space, and a luxury hotel. However, the deal fell through.

3. Property in Beijing

Trump at a podium with Ivanka behind him

Wikimedia

Trump made a deal with the State Grid Corporation of China, an electric utility company, to develop land in Beijing. But the company had used public land for the project, which was illegal. Trump was going to brand and manage the project, which would have been worth $1 billion.

Once the Chinese company was found to be illegally using public property, the negotiations fell through.

4. His debt to the Bank of China

Xi Jinping speaking at an assembly

Kremlin

Trump likes talking about owing debt to China. However, he once owned millions of dollars to the Bank of China itself, as it had financed his stake in the Avenue of the Americas. The debt amounted to $211 million.

One public document mentions the Chinese bank as a security. In 2017, a document “lists the Bank of China as a secured party having a financial interest in the building’s fixtures — such as air conditioning systems and toilets — in case of default on the loan,” according to Politico.

5. Ivanka and the Chinese trademarks

Ivanka sitting in a chair looking to the right

Flickr / U.S. Department of State

“I’m actually opening my first store in China, in Beijing — a jewelry boutique, which is very exciting,” Ivanka Trump told the South China Morning Post in 2012. Her presence in China has continued: in 2019 China gave her company approval for five trademarks. These included brokerage, charitable fundraising, and art valuation services. Only a few months before, she had received 16 trademarks, including one for “coffins.”

Yes, coffins! Snopes confirms “Trump’s company holds a variety of trademarks in China, including one for coffins.”

Snopes notes, “Ivanka Trump shuttered her business in July 2018 to focus on work for the White House.” But Snopes adds that the the government transparency nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)  has argued, “her trademarks remain a potential conflict of interest as she continues to work on policy in the White House and meet with foreign leaders.”

 

6. Trump properties hire Chinese developers

Aerial view of a Trump property

Screenshot / YouTube

According to The Washington Post, while Trump was engaging in bitter trade wars with China in 2018, his businesses were still benefiting from firms backed by the Chinese government. Two developments in Dubai and Indonesia, that included Trump-branded properties and hotels, were receiving services from these firms.

7. Manhattan projects with Chinese investors

Aerial view of New York City

Canva

In 2015, Jason Greenblatt, then a Trump Organization attorney, tried to negotiate a deal between the Trump Organization and the Shanghai Municipal Investment Group, owned by the Chinese government. The project would have involved purchasing land in Manhattan and developing a tower larger than Trump Tower.

However, the deal fell through when the Trump Organization tried to get an ownership stake in the project without investing capital.

8. The Kushners’ ties to China

Jared Kushner wearing a black suit

Flickr/Gage Skidmore

Jared Kushner, husband to Ivanka Trump, was at one point involved in talks with the Chinese Anbang Insurance Group, according to the New York Times. The group had estimated assets of $285 billion.

The Kushner family even tried to find Chinese investors to back their potential projects in New York City. According to the Guardian, the family tried to offer green cards in return for Chinese assistance.

9. China made Trump products — while he criticized them

President Trump standing nest to Xi Jinping

Screenshot / YouTube

ABC News reported that while Trump accused China in 2011 of stealing American jobs, his products were manufactured in China. “An array of Trump-branded clothes, accessories, and other products are made in China,” the report said. Donald Trump acknowledged this fact, himself.

10. Trump’s Chinese tenant

Graphic of the United States and China with the word Tariffs in a circle

Screenshot / YouTube

Trump Tower is the building that houses a New York branch of the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, according to Forbes. This bank is owned by the Chinese government. Their lease ended in 2019. Millions of dollars were paid from this bank to the Trump Organization in rent from a bank backed by the Chinese government.

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