Trump’s stance, according to experts, could harm his tough-on-China picture, and some traditional media outlets have previously criticized him for “putting China second.”
The turnaround is a new development. Following a disagreement over their backing various individuals in the 2022 US Senate primary competition in Ohio, Trump officially patched up with a traditional anti-tax advocacy group called the Club for Growth a week ago.
In February next time, the rift turned so ugly that Club for Growth’s president, David McIntosh, told investigators that the Republican Party” may be available” to 2024 US presidential candidates another than Trump.
The former leader in July later refrained from calling the non-profit organization the” Club for No Growth.”
But on Feb 7, Trump apparently hosted McIntosh for breakfast at Mar- a- Lago, the former president’s home in Palm Beach, Florida, according to a Politico report.
The two then flew up to a South Carolina campaign event, where the Republican presidential primary election took place days after, on February 24.
On Mar 3, Trump spoke at the team’s quarterly economic retreat, even held in Florida. At the occasion, attended by many Club for Growth sponsors, Trump professed that he was “back in like” with the team’s management.
Around that day, another meeting took place at Trump’s substance. According to information obtainable on Open Secrets, Jeff Yass, a leading donor to Club for Growth, was the guest this day.
Yass’s online fair in 2023 was estimated at US$ 28.5 billion, according to Forbes, having built his wealth trading stocks. In 1987, he so- founded Susquehanna International Group, a personally held purchase party, and serves as its controlling producer.
According to Open Secrets, Yass donated about US$ 49 million to curiosity groups supporting several American liberal political candidates in 2022.
Of this number, US$ 19 million went to Club of Growth. Next time, Yass donated about US$ 16 million to the party. According to Open Strategies data, the megadonor has given about US$ 130 million to British political action committees and the Club for Growth since 2020.
What is more, off from Susquehanna International Group’s 15 per cent stake in ByteDance, Yass ‘ personal share is 7 per cent, for approximately US$ 21 billion, according to an estimate by the Wall Street Journal – about 75 per cent of his overall net worth.
According to a report from the New York Post on March 7 that the House Bill was introduced on March 5, Yass was calling Republican members of Congress to warn them that a ban on TikTok would lead to their upcoming donations.
Susquehanna did not respond to requesting comment. However, the New York Post cited a Yass spokesperson who claimed these assertions were” categorically false.”
Analysing Trump’s about- face, an opinion piece by the Washington Examiner, a conservative newspaper, said the “answer appears to be a simple one”.
Trump has recently been feted by the billionaire conservative donor Jeff Yass in this situation. Yass owns a stake in TikTok and wants to avoid any divestments that might compromise his financial interests,” the statement read.
” Put simply, Trump supported a ban, then, after receiving Yass’s patronage, immediately opposed a ban”.
Trump’s “flip-flip” may hurt his “anti-China” image among Republican politicians, according to Caitlin Chin- Rothmann of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and may confound some members of Congress who might be on the fence to ban a popular app in an election year.
Trump’s claim that a ban on TikTok would “double the size” of Facebook’s business was highly unlikely to prove true, she added.
According to Chin-Rothmann, “it is theoretically possible that Trump has personal or business interests that could influence his policy proposals,” citing a number of conflict-of-interest claims made while he was president.
” But we can only speculate ( as ) to his reasoning at this point”.
This article was first published on , SCMP.