President Trump Pledges To Help China's ZTE, After Ban (usatoday.com)

President Trump said Sunday that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping are working to put the troubled Chinese telecom manufacturer ZTE back in business. From a report: "President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast," Trump said in a message on Twitter. "Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!" ZTE, maker of Android phones popular with budget-minded consumers, said Wednesday that it would cease "major operating activities," raising questions not only about its survival, but the impact on U.S. consumers who have previously bought or were thinking of buying ZTE phones. The announcement followed a decision last month by the U.S. Commerce Department, which banned American companies from exporting products to the Shenzhen, China-based telecom firm for seven years.

Comments

MCGA?

[Anonymous Coward]

Really, how does this help America? It only makes me suspicious that Trump or some of his buddies want to swoop in and get the stock for pennies on the dollar.

Re:MCGA?

[110010001000]

You must be kidding. Trump isn't out to help America. He is out to help himself. Morally and ethically bankrupt.

Re: MCGA?

[Anonymous Coward]

Elect a clown, get a circus.

Hire incompetent devs, get broken Unicode support.

Some things never change.

Re:MCGA?

[fahrbot-bot]

Really, how does this help America? It only makes me suspicious that Trump or some of his buddies want to swoop in and get the stock for pennies on the dollar.

Yep, he probably bought up gazillions of shares last week when they collapsed. Now he's using his position as President to boost his personal retirement fund.

More likely, the last person who spoke with him (or a Fox News commentator) already owns a bunch of ZTE stock, was getting soaked and advised him to help out -- Headline to read: "Trump Saves Chinese Company" (ignoring why they needed saving)

Trump doesn't read anything (longer than 140 characters, anyway), doesn't really know (or care to know) anything, has no moral compass, and has the attention span of a goldfish, so he's easily swayed by the last thing he hears. (I love to be proven wrong, but don't think I am)

Re:MCGA?

[willy_me]

No, it is probably why China allowed him to register the "Trump" trade name right after being elected despite being denied for so many years. It is a decision that is quite easy to reverse. If this were about buying and selling stock there would be a paper trail and China (not Trump) is too smart for that.

This is why sitting presidents should forgo all their business interests when taking on the position of president. Otherwise, it is impossible to not have conflicts of interest. There will always be the desire to work for oneself at the expense of the country they serve.

WTF?

[TiberiusKirk]

Literally, What The Fuck?!!! He's a fucking buffoon with no coherent plan for anything.

Re: WTF?

[Anonymous Coward]

Good cop, bad cop doesn't work when its only one cop. Trump is playing both sides as if he has split personality disorder. Actually, it is his pathological lying that is the problem.

ZTE knows the magic numbers...

[MostAwesomeDude]

...specifically, the routing numbers for Michael Cohen's checking account~

But seriously, did any money have to change hands, or is this just Trump showing his admiration for Xi's continuing march towards tyranny?

I don't know what's worse

[rsilvergun]

the rampant corruption, the back pedaling on all his campaign promises (backed down on Carrier, supports Guest Worker programs & TPP, just gave Big Pharma a big present, filled his cabinet with Goldman Sach's folks that embody the swamp... I could go on) or the fact that no matter what his poll #s don't budge from 38-40%.

The first year of this crap I could chalk up to the news cycle catching up with folks who don't watch politics. But at this point folks are sticking with him out of either stubbornness or a desire to see those "coastal elites" mad. That's some mighty fine face spiting right there, Lou.

This makes no sense

[93 Escort Wagon]

Let me be clear - I do not agree with Trump’s short-sighted and backwards-thinking trade war. But isn’t the whole point of a trade war to put the hurt on the companies and consumers based in the other country, which increases the pressure on the other government to make concessions?

Trump is basically giving away his leverage - so instead of both countries being hurt by the trade war, now it’s Americans who’ll take the brunt of the pain. Good job, “master” deal maker.

Re:This makes no sense

[squiggleslash]

The ZTE ban has little or nothing to do with any trade war. It's a straightforward consequence of the pre-existing sanctions against Iran. ZTE sold US technologies to Iran.

Whether we should be sanctioning Iran, or trying to build a better relationship with them (they're horrible, but in some ways they're one of the least horrible regimes in that region - still, compared to Saudi Arabia, who isn't moderately better?) is another question. But it makes little sense to have sanctions and then say "Hey, it's OK, no biggie" when someone actually violates them.

Also worth noting: ZTE is also implicated in some spyware stuff, that's bad enough to ensure ZTE phones are banned by the US military. It's not like a friendly company committed an oopsie.

Re:Makes sense!

[Duds]

The giveaway here is that Breitbart have chosen to pretend it never happened. If even they can't spin it, you know he screwed up.

Re:It's the whiplash with a touch of insider tradi

[Kohath]

Hint: Look for "sharp" investors who suddenly bought up a bunch of ZTE shares. In this case, we're back to the question of whether or not Trump got his own beak wet.

ZTE stock has not traded since April 17th, when the ban was announced.

Also, you should grow up and stop making up stories.