美国国家公共电台 NPR 3 Men, One Skyscraper And A Conflict-Of-Interest Concern In Foreign Policy

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SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Now, here's a story about two countries, three men and a skyscraper¹. NPR's Peter Overby looks at questions of how the Trump² Tower in Manila might affect ties between the United States and the Philippines.

PETER OVERBY, BYLINE³: One of the three men is President Trump. The others are Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Jose E.B. Antonio. Antonio is Duterte's special trade envoy⁴ to the United States, and he's the developer of a Trump-branded residential⁵ tower in Manila. Antonio made a promotional video for the tower in 2012.

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JOSE E.B. ANTONIO: We believe that Trump exemplifies the best quality of real estate anywhere in the world. It also exemplifies luxury, and it exemplifies exclusivity.

OVERBY: Trump in the video praising Antonio and his company.

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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: True professionals - they really know what they're doing. Trump Tower Manila is going to be something special.

OVERBY: And Trump's children joined in. Here's Ivanka Trump.

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IVANKA TRUMP: We feel very comfortable with the Antonio family as the developers of this project.

OVERBY: And Donald Jr.

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DONALD TRUMP JR.: Over the years in our dealings with the Antonios, both on a personal level as friends and on a business level, we've just had nothing but great times and great success.

OVERBY: Photos and a billboard⁶ of Ivanka Trump were used to promote the project. But Antonio's company actually owns the tower. It pays the Trump organization to use the Trump brand between $1 million and $5 million a year, according to Trump's 2015 financial disclosure report. Trump profits from this, even in the White House, because unlike other recent presidents, he retained ownership of his businesses. As for Phillipine President Duterte, the third guy in this story, his political career is marked by violence in his own country and by anger toward the United States. Here's how he dissed President Obama in October.

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PRESIDENT RODRIGO DUTERTE: So you can go to hell. Mr. Obama, you can go to hell.

OVERBY: Last month, President Trump invited Duterte to the White House. No agenda was stated. Duterte hasn't said yes or no. The White House did not respond to our request for comment.

STUART GILMAN: It all just looks really bad. It looks like Trump is trying to simply protect his properties.

OVERBY: Stuart Gilman is an international consultant⁷ on anti-corruption policies.

GILMAN: If you encourage these autocrats⁸ through U.S. attention to them, making them feel important and special, that will undermine our desire to have a stable Filipino government.

OVERBY: But a conflict of interest like this has deeper implications, too. It could upset the careful process that Washington uses to make a foreign policy decision.

JOSHUA KURLANTZICK: Major players in the administration think about it. They consult with Congress, whatever, papers are put forward.

OVERBY: Joshua Kurlantzick is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He says the evolving policy is debated, refined and pushed forward up to the top levels of the White House. But suppose the process changes course without explanation.

KURLANTZICK: And it possibly could go in a different direction because of some business interests. It's going to leave everyone wondering, A, what was the point of the process and, B, how do we have, like, a reasonable, thoughtful, honest policymaking process in the future?

OVERBY: It's a question that could come up for any of the 19 other nations where the Trump organization does business. Peter Overby, NPR News, Washington.