Donald Trump can’t massage his way out of this scandal
“President” Donald Trump is all about selling access for whatever he can personally gain. Last week, reports emerged that a Mar-A-Lago member wrote to his friend “King” Trump with an idea on the Veterans Administration, and had his idea forwarded to the administration by Trump himself. Also recently, Trump’s friend Robert Kraft was busted for solicitation at a massage parlor. Turns out, the former massage parlor founder, Cindy Yang, is buddies with “the Donald.”
Yang took a selfie with Trump at his Mar-A-Lago Super Bowl party, captioning the photo, “We love our president.” Reportedly, the particular massage parlor where Kraft was caught on tape was sold by Yang in 2013. However, she is the founder of a chain of spas, Tokyo Day Spas, that she has operated since coming to the United States from China in 2007.
Yang has been reportedly selling access to Trump and Mar-A-Lago to Chinese executives. Mother Jones reported over the weekend on the other business that Yang runs, GY Investments LLC. GY touts itself as an “international business consulting firm that provides public relations services to assist businesses in America to establish and expand their brand image in the modern Chinese marketplace,” but appears to be mostly selling access to Trump. What security clearance Yang might have, if any, is unknown.
In what is perhaps another Trump coincidence, around the time that Yang started GY and gained access to Trump and others in the GOP, including Trump’s children, even as Ivanka Trump received numerous trademark approvals from China in the last two years, including for massage parlors and spas. The House should investigate how those came about and if there is any connection to the Trump administration and the relationship with Yang, who until now had operated out of the spotlight. Yang represents a security threat and like most of this administration, is a sign of the swamp dwelling that Trump and his orbit represents. We will see how Trump massages himself out of this situation.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.