Trump In China: Ben Cardin Slams President For Beijing Trademarks

Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland joined the chorus of President Donald Trump's critics accusing the former billionaire real-estate mogul of attempting to profit from his presidency Wednesday over Beijing’s decision to grant preliminary approval to 38 Trump-related trademarks.

The Chinese government approved the preliminarily trademarks Monday, providing Trump and his family with avenues to create name branded businesses across the country. The move has raised red flags among Trump’s political opponents who were quick to point out that the U.S. Constitution mandated that public servants cannot accept anything of value from foreign governments.

Cardin, a Democrat, said the new trademarks clearly demonstrated that Trump was illegally trying to benefit from his office, citing that the upstart politician had applied for several trademarks in “the world’s biggest market” before becoming president, only to be “turned down each and every time.”

China registered a trademark to the president on Feb. 14 for a Trump-branded construction service. The newest batch of Trump-related trademarks included products ranging from branded spas, massage parlors, golf clubs, hotels, insurance, retail shops, restaurants, bars, and private bodyguard and escort services, the New York Daily News reported Wednesday.

“It’s clear to me that officials in Beijing have come to appreciate the potential return on investments for having a positive, personal business relationship with the President of the United States, who has not taken appropriate and transparent stops to completely sever his relationship from the corporation that bears his name,” Cardin said in a statement Wednesday, calling on the State Department, the Commerce Department, and the Justice Department to brief Congress about the potential offenses.

Trump’s lawyers in China applied for the trademarks in April 2016, as the president simultaneously campaigned to raise import taxes on Chinese goods in the U.S. Trump has called climate change a “hoax” created by the Chinese government so that U.S. manufacturers would be less competitive with their Chinese counterparts.

If Trump received any special treatment in securing the trademark rights, it would certainly violate the U.S. Constitution. Dan Plane, a director at Hong Kong intellectual property consultancy, told the Associated Press that he had never seen this many applications approved so quickly by the Chinese government.

"For all these marks to sail through so quickly and cleanly, with no similar marks, no identical marks, no issues with specifications - boy, it's weird," Plane said.

Because the trademarks’ approvals were preliminary, Chinese officials have 90 days to object to them.

Conflicts of interests concerns regarding Trump’s businesses have arisen ever since the billionaire real-estate mogul won the presidency last November. Trump said he has avoided the issue by creating a “blind trust” and turning control over the Trump Organization to his two adult sons.