As China Continues Approving New Trump Trademarks, Stabenow and Cardin Call on President to Keep His Promises

U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, held a press conference following reports that China has conditionally granted approval of 38 new Trump trademarks.  The Senators raised concerns regarding President Trump’s conflicts of interest and ongoing refusal to divest his assets and Senator Stabenow called on President Trump to keep the promises he made to workers across the country to name China a currency manipulator on his first day in office. 

Audio of the press conference is available here. 

“It is impossible not to ask questions about the rapid approval of President Trump’s trademarks in China,” said Senator Stabenow. “China has a long history of manipulating its currency, a practice that hurts American workers and manufacturers, and it is shocking that Donald Trump continues to benefit financially from his business ties there.  During the campaign, Donald Trump made a promise to workers in Michigan that he would declare China a currency manipulator on his first day in office.  He has turned his back on the people of Michigan.”

"This is an astonishing development," said Senator Cardin, Ranking Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "It’s clear to me that officials in Beijing have come to appreciate the potential return on investments for China in having a positive, personal business relationship with the President of the United States, who has not taken appropriate and transparent steps to completely sever his relationship from the corporation that bears his name. It is imperative that the State Department, the Commerce Department, and the Justice Department brief Congress, immediately, on these matters and on the potential Constitutional dangers that they present.”

Senator Stabenow is an original cosponsor of Senator Cardin's resolution calling upon President Trump to follow the precedent established by prior Presidents and convert his assets to simple, conflict-free holdings, adopt blind trusts managed by an independent trustee with no relationship to the President or his businesses, or take other equivalent measures in order to avoid a potential violation of the Constitution of the United States. They re-introduced it with 31 of their colleagues on March 2nd.

Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution provides that “no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under [the United States], shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”

The Senate resolution introduced, “finds the promised actions outlined by President Donald J. Trump at his January 11, 2017, press conference wholly inadequate and insufficient to ensure compliance with the Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution.