Towering heap of conflicts
WASHINGTON — When he invited Philippines strongman Rodrigo Duterte to visit the White House, President Trump bonded with the brutal leader of a regime whose goodwill can help boost the Trump family fortunes.
Trump extended America’s highest hospitality to Duterte at a time when a Duterte associate is nearing completion of Trump Tower Manila, a giant $150 million downtown building that licensed the rights for Trump’s name, and Trump-related businesses are awaiting decisions on Philippines patent applications.
Additionally, Duterte has named Jose E.B. Antonio, the head of the company that built Trump Tower Manila , his special envoy to U.S.
The tower’s website includes years-old testimonials from Trump and his two oldest sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, and a link to Ivanka Trump’s jewelry line — or at least it did until the site abruptly went down Monday night.
And Ivanka Trump used to be the poster girl for the project — a billboard with her likeness on it was used to market the $150 million building, described on the Trump Organization’s website as an “illustrious skyscraper (that) is already being recognized for its breathtaking architecture, exquisite design, ultra-exclusive amenities and unparalleled standards of luxury — attributes uniquely synonymous with the Trump brand name.” Over 90% of the apartments are presold, and the building is expected to open later this year.
Meanwhile, both Trump Marks LLC and Ivanka Trump Marks LLC have pending patent applications, according to documents filed with the Philippines government.
Ivanka’s pending patents are for her clothing line and were applied for in February and March, after her father became President. The patent for Trump’s name was applied for by Century Properties, his business partner in the country, back in December when he was President-elect.
The family’s business ties to the Philippines came under renewed scrutiny following Trump’s warm words for Duterte.
Trump offered to host the Filipino strongman at the White House during a Saturday phone call the White House described as a “very friendly conversation,” even though Duterte’s regime has reportedly killed 7,500 drug addicts in extrajudicial massacres — which the White House described as the Philippines “fighting very hard to rid its country of drugs.”
Trump had previously praised Duterte for his extralegal killings as doing things “the right way,” Duterte said back in December.
The warm words and business dealings aren’t a good combination, experts say.
“It doesn’t look good. It may not be illegal based on the powers of the presidency, but it’s certainly ethically dubious and somewhat careless to me,” said Robert Manning, an East Asia expert at the Atlantic Council who has worked on foreign policy in both Democratic and Republican administrations in the past.
“It’s really hard to disentangle the business interests from the national interest because the Philippines are a significant actor and are significant to the national interest of the United States. I don’t know how you draw the line on this.”
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the father and daughter have stepped away from their businesses, and dismissed a question about the patents and ongoing business ties.
“The President and Ivanka have done everything in compliance, made it very clear, and I’d refer you to the Trump Organization,” he said.
The Trump Organization didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The father and daughter’s companies have already benefited from having a wide range of patents get cleared in China — some around the same time the Chinese president was visiting Trump in Florida.