David Letterman Confronts Donald Trump Over Ties Made In China, In Old Interview That Recently Resurfaced
An old video of David Letterman confronting Donald Trump over neckties branded with the Trump name that are made in China has resurfaced, Yahoo News reports.
As USA Today reported, on Friday, Trump issued an executive order demanding that American companies stop doing business with China, following a new round of tariffs imposed by the country on imported American goods. The move comes amid an ongoing trade war between the two countries over the back-and-forth issuance of tariffs, as well as China devaluing its currency.
“Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China, including bringing our companies HOME and making your products in the USA. We don’t need China and, frankly, would be far better off without them,” Trump wrote.
Not long afterwards, a video of a 2012 episode of The Late Show With David Letterman began making the rounds on Twitter.
In the video, Trump, who at the time was known mostly for his reality TV ventures and as a businessman, brought up Barack Obama and his stance on China. Trump described China as “a country that’s just ripping our heart out…”
The clip, which you can see below, then cuts to David Letterman showing off some Trump-branded ties, to which Trump responds, “They are great ties.” Letterman then tells the audience that the ties are made in China, to which Trump responds with stunned silence.
WATCH: David Letterman once confronted Donald Trump over making his ties in China. pic.twitter.com/RVKjKibgSA
— The Beat with Ari Melber ? (@TheBeatWithAri) August 24, 2019
That was seven years ago, but it appears that Trump-branded goods are still made in China. For example, as Newsweek reported in late July, Trump’s “Keep America Great” hats and other merchandise related to Trump’s 2020 campaign are made in China. Indeed, the magazine even provided a photo of a worker in a Chinese factory making a Trump 2020 banner.
Similarly, as HuffPost reported in 2017, Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, also has business ties with China. Specifically, French news organization Agence France-Presse did some calculations and determined that, in the time it took Donald Trump to give a speech about the importance of buying American, 53.5 metric tons of Ivanka-branded goods were imported into the U.S.
In addition to Trump and his family members having business deals with China, it’s also been pointed out that Trump’s executive order is essentially meaningless, as he lacks the authority to make such a demand. Per The Washington Post, Jennifer Hillman, a Georgetown University law professor and trade expert at the Council on Foreign Relations says that the Office of the President does not have that kind of power.
