Trump Calls On Clinton To Return Clinton Foundation Donations From Saudi Arabia

Trump: “I Am Calling On [Clinton] To Immediately Return The $25 Million Plus” Saudi Arabia Donated To The Clinton Foundation. In a June 13 Facebook post, presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump called on presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to “immediately return the $25 million plus she got from [Saudi Arabia] for the Clinton Foundation!” [Facebook, 6/13/16]

Fox News Hypes Trump’s Attacks On Clinton Foundation Donations Without Noting Trump’s Middle East Business Ties

Sean Hannity And Newt Gingrich Bash Clinton Foundation Donations Without Mentioning Trump’s Middle East Ventures. On the June 13 edition of Fox News’ Hannity, after Trump wrote his Facebook post criticizing Clinton, host Sean Hannity and Fox contributor Newt Gingrich both criticized the Clinton Foundation for taking “up to $25 million from Saudi Arabia” in donations and “$5 million from countries like Qatar,” with Hannity saying of Clinton, “taking $25 million from Saudi Arabia and not criticizing them, that's disgusting. That's shameful in my mind.” Neither talked about the various business deals Trump has in the Middle East, including in Saudi Arabia. [Fox News, Hannity, 6/13/16]

Hannity And Trump Criticize Clinton Foundation Donations From Saudi Arabia And Qatar Without Discussing Trump’s Business Dealings In Those Same Countries. On the June 14 edition of Fox News’ Hannity, Hannity and Trump together criticized Clinton and the Clinton Foundation for taking donations from countries like “Saudi Arabia, Brunei and Qatar, [which] actually allow the assassination or the execution of gays and lesbians,” with Hannity falsely claiming Clinton “never until yesterday criticized these countries.” Neither Trump nor Hannity mentioned Trump’s own business dealings in those same countries. [Fox News, Hannity, 6/14/16]

Fox Correspondent John Roberts: Trump “Taking Aim” At “Donations That The Clinton Foundation Has Received From Middle Eastern Countries.” Fox senior national correspondent John Roberts reported on the June 14 edition of Fox’s Happening Now that Trump was “taking aim at Hillary Clinton on a number of different fronts, but in particular over donations that the Clinton Foundation has received from Middle Eastern countries,” but he failed to mention any of Trump’s own business interests in the Middle East. [Fox News, Happening Now, 6/15/16]

Trump Has Business Interests In The Middle East, Including In Nations He And Fox Criticized Clinton Foundation For Accepting Donations From

Quartz: “Wealthy Muslims Helped Donald Trump Build His Empire,” Including Via Deals With Saudis And Qataris. A December 7 Quartz article detailed “some of the more prominent deals and partnerships with Muslim individuals, governments, and companies that have buoyed the Trump brand over the years.” These business ventures involve Qatar Airways, which has had a “‘corporate campus’ in the Trump Tower … since at least 2008;” two Saudi princes who live in Trump Tower; Saudi Prince Alwaleed, who took “majority control of New York’s Plaza hotel, [which gave] Trump ‘more breathing room with bank creditors’” and purchased Trump’s $18 million yacht; the Trump International Golf Club in Dubai; and Trump Home partnerships in “Kuwait, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar.” Quartz later reported that regional retailer Lifestyle stopped selling Trump Home products in its stores in Kuwait, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other countries following Trump’s anti-Muslim comments. [Quartz, 12/7/15; 12/9/15]

CBS News: “Trump Has Been Partnering With Arab Investors For Years” And Is “Actively Looking” At Business Opportunities In “Abu Dhabi, Qatar And Saudi Arabia.” CBS News reported that there is a “Trump Tower complex in Baku, Azerbaijan, and a resort under construction in Bali, Indonesia, to be managed as a Trump-branded property.” The article also quoted Ivanka Trump saying “that in addition to Dubai, the Trump Organization was actively looking ‘at multiple business opportunities’ in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.” [CBS News, 12/9/15]

Trump Sought Business With Libyan Dictator Qaddafi, And Trump’s Campaign Manager Has Ties To Dictatorial Regimes Throughout The World

BuzzFeed: “Donald Trump Sought Investment Partnerships With Muammar al-Qaddafi And The Libyan Regime.” A BuzzFeed investigation posted on June 7 found that “Donald Trump sought investment partnerships with Muammar al-Qaddafi and the Libyan regime,” revealing that Trump “rented his Westchester estate to the dictator, tried to set up a face-to-face meeting, and took the Libyan ambassador golfing.” BuzzFeed reported that Trump “saw possibilities in a partnership with the Libyan Investment Authority, which invests profits from Libya’s lucrative oil industry” and that he ultimately sought “to gain access to Qaddafi, who was in a position to release billions in investment capital.” [BuzzFeed, 6/7/16]

Politico: Paul Manafort Worked Extensively For Philippines Dictator Ferdinand Marcos And Other International Dictators. A June 10 investigation by Politico’s Kenneth P. Vogel found that Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort worked extensively with Philippines dictator Ferdinand Marcos, advising him on “electoral strategy” and “tamping down concerns about the Marcos regime’s human rights record, theft of public resources, and ultimately their perpetration of a massive vote-rigging effort to try to stay in power in the Philippines’ 1986 presidential election.” The investigation noted that Manafort’s business dealings with Marcos made other associations with “controversial foreign leaders and businessmen, including Zaire President Mobutu Sese Seko, Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska, Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovych and France’s Eduard Balladur, among others,” “look like middle school civics classes.” [Politico, 6/10/16]

BuzzFeed: Manafort’s “Ties To Allies Of Russian President Vladimir Putin” Raises Concerns About Trump “Receiving Classified [CIA] Security Briefings.” A May 6 BuzzFeed investigation looked into Manafort’s previous business dealings “working for pro-Russian forces in Ukraine” and “doing complex deals for an oligarch with close ties to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” and it quoted several national security experts saying that Manafort’s ties “raise special concerns.” The investigation noted that “Manafort may be best known for managing the 2010 campaign of Viktor Yanukovych, the Ukrainian politician whose ouster as president prompted a Russian invasion of the country” and says that he also managed “tens of millions of dollars for Oleg Deripaska, an oligarch denied entry to the U.S. reportedly for ties to organized crime.” [BuzzFeed, 5/6/16]