U.S. President Donald Trump's tax records reveal investments amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars in China. He has a bank account in China, too.
Trump claims China is responsible for COVID-19.
An analysis of Trump's tax records by The New York Times says the president has a bank account in China.
The analysis shows Trump spent at least $192,000 in five companies working in China over several years. These companies have claimed at least $97,400 in expenses since 2010.
The Times also found Trump had a previously unreported bank account in China. Trump's personal bank accounts, however, aren't included in his public financial disclosures because they are under corporate names. The Trump Organization has refused to name the bank holding his money.
Trump's China bank account identified in The Times story is under the name of Trump International Hotels Management. This company paid $188,561 in taxes in China from 2013 to 2015. The company reported only a few thousand dollars in income from China.
In addition, Trump also maintains bank accounts in Great Britain and Ireland.
In 2018 Trump launched a trade war against China.
In August, Trump said he planned to offer tax credits to entice U.S. companies to move factories out of China. He also threatened to strip government contracts from U.S. companies that continued to outsource work to China.
Trump lawyer Alan Garten said the Trump Organization "opened an account with a Chinese bank having offices in the United States in order to pay the local taxes" it incurred.
Garten said Trump International Hotels Management opened the account when it began doing business in China "to explore the potential for hotel deals in Asia."
"No deals, transactions or other business activities ever materialized and, since 2015, the office has remained inactive," he said. "Though the bank account remains open, it has never been used for any other purpose."
