Dear Editor,

My President preaches America first, but expresses concern for the hard working citizens of China. Is the art of the deal in reality nothing more than anything and everything is for sale to the highest bidder, national security be damned?

In the past few years ZTE, a Chinese electronics company that, among other things, makes cheap smartphones, has gotten into repeated trouble with the U.S. government. Many of its products contain U.S. technology that, by law, must not be exported to embargoed nations, including North Korea and Iran.

But ZTE was circumventing the ban. Strike one.

Initially, ZTE was fined $1.2 billion. Then, when it became clear that the company had rewarded rather than punished the executives involved, the Commerce Department forbade U.S. technology companies from selling components to ZTE for the next seven years. Strike two.

Two weeks ago the Pentagon banned sales of ZTE phones on military bases, following warnings from intelligence agencies that the Chinese government may be using the company’s products to conduct espionage. Strike three.

My Umpire-in-Chief suddenly declared that he was working with President Xi of China to help save ZTE — Too many jobs in China lost — and that he was ordering the Commerce Department to make it happen.

As has been shown elsewhere, connections betwixt and between the Trump Organization and foreign entities with ties to Chinese, Russian, and now Indonesia, where a Chinese state-owned company just announced a big investment in a project in which the Trump Organization has a substantial stake, is common practice.

So, once again, we are left with the campaign promise of America first, but faced with a much different outcome.

Step back from the details and consider the general picture. High officials have the power to reward or punish both businesses and other governments, so that undue influence is always a problem, even if it takes the form of campaign contributions or indirect financial rewards. Trump and his family, by failing to divest from their international business dealings, have basically hung a sign out declaring themselves open for business.

Not America First business, but the “Artofthedeal First” business.

Sincerely,

Scott R. Blume,

Clarendon