As always with the Trumps, follow the money. Back in 2012, Ivanka Trump tweeted thanks to Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan:
Thank you Prime Minister Erdogan for joining us yesterday to celebrate the launch of #TrumpTowers Istanbul!
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) April 20, 2012
Meanwhile, yesterday, as The Washington Post’s Philip Bump confirms, in a surprise to absolutely nobody at all, Donald Trump congratulated Erdogan on his “win” in a rigged election:
The White House confirms that Trump congratulated Erdogan on Turkey's referendum. pic.twitter.com/0lYC6mMNmM
— Philip Bump (@pbump) April 18, 2017
A CNN headline puts it perfectly in perspective: “Trump congratulates Erdogan for winning a referendum that grants the Turkish President largely unchecked powers.”
Think about that for a minute. Then do the math: 1 + 1 = Trump Profits.
As Ana Navarro pointed out it is now apparent why Trump was so quick to congratulate Erdogan on a victory over Democracy (other than Trump’s own dictatorial fantasies, of course):
Oooh. Now, I get why despite trampling democracy, jailing opposition, protests over election fraud -Trump congratulated Erdogan's "victory". https://t.co/3Ukgl6FtOm
— Ana Navarro (@ananavarro) April 18, 2017
There’s money to be made on the Bosporus. And in China too. It is surely no coincidence that, as MSNBC’s Kyle Griffin observed this morning:
AP: Ivanka's company won approval for new China trademarks the same day she dined w/ China's president at Mar-a-Lago https://t.co/myUMSvpJUa
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 18, 2017
Reminder: NBC found Ivanka's brand imported 56 shipments of her products from China & Singapore since Election Day https://t.co/hbCXJCqw4s https://t.co/GqFtLg7i9c
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) April 18, 2017
Sure, hypocrisy abounds. But a for-profit presidency is only marginally less frightening than those profits dictating our foreign policy. Whatever our nation’s promoted values, the Trump foreign policy will revolve around the likelihood of Trump profiting from it.
Melania whined about missing an opportunity to cash in, Ivanka has just cashed in, and Donald Trump himself is the biggest winner, getting to fire missiles made by a company in which he owns stock.
Trump is supposed to be defending the United States’ national security interest, not his own profits, but those days passed when the Patriarch of Graft, Donald Trump, took office.
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