A little history will help us understand the President-elect and his relationship with Boeing. In 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton went to Moscow to secure a multi-billion-dollar deal for aircraft built by Boeing.
In return, Boeing threw in $2 million towards the World's Fair, even though the State Department had said it would not solicit funds from them and would keep all donations from U.S. companies at the $1 million level.
The World’s Fair was considered one of Secretary Clinton’s first successes at the State Department. Afterward, a grateful Boeing went on to donate nearly $1 million to the Clinton Foundation, as well as encouraging all of its corporate leadership to participate in fundraising efforts for her presidential campaign.
Boeing insisted that the deal with Russia had no bearing on their decision to donate to the Clinton Foundation, nor their donations to Clinton herself.
The whole arrangement oozed with corruption.
Boeing, and many other big corporations bet the house on Hillary, knowing they would win big for their investments when Hillary came to power and opened the government coffers.
One cannot blame The Donald for toying with them.
And no one should waste tears on the corrupt leadership at Boeing who knew full well what they were doing when they signed on with the Clinton's.
Now, let's talk about Taiwan.
They are saying that President-elect Donald Trump — messing with China — is unprecedented. He has to wait until he takes the oath of office. Those who love Hillary say what he is doing is dangerous. Those who love Obama say it is disrespectful. Those who love to be pundits on television say it has never happened before.
Sorry. They're all wrong.
There is nothing wrong with Trump sending signals. He should be sending signals.
Reagan messed with Iran as the president elect and they let the hostages go even as he was taking the oath of office. It didn't take eight years. It didn't even take eight minutes.
Nixon messed with North Vietnam, even though he was still only the president-elect. He even had envoys on the ground in Paris because he and Kissinger wanted to end the war their own way. Lyndon Johnson, a lame duck president, had to endure it.
I, myself, once met a head of state and passed a message from a president-elect. And if I can do it, well, it isn't a big deal.
Perhaps the most important president elect in history was Abraham Lincoln. He had to say and do things quickly. The union was falling apart and the incumbent, James Buchanan was doing the 19th Century version of binge watching Netflix and wouldn't come up for air.
So there is nothing wrong with a president-elect getting to work early.
The Trump critics can't seem to make up their mind. First they say that his visit to the Carrier plant means nothing, it was only a few jobs, it was a drop in the bucket, the president can't visit every plant. Then they say he is threatening world war three by talking to Taiwan.
The truth is that the Carrier incident was loaded with symbolism and was very important.
It demonstrates that the president-elect is serious about jobs, will keep his promises, is going to act fast and expects the bureaucracy to pick up his style and follow suit. A president has to lead and not just stand in the White House Rose Garden and lecture the nation.
Trump's visit to Carrier in Indiana was leadership on steroids.
So too, the signal to China was important. It was a reminder that the U.S. has options. Yes, we want peace with China. Yes, we want to be able to buy their cheap products. Yes, we need their markets for our exports. But we cannot let our wishful thinking cause us to give away the store.
And Boeing? That is a signal to the corrupt corporate insiders who gave their bribes to the Clinton's expecting a return on their investment. Want to be a success during a Trump administration? Build good products at a good price. Rely less on bribes.
Doug Wead is a presidential historian who served as a senior adviser to the Ron Paul presidential campaign. He is a New York Times best-selling author, philanthropist, and adviser to two presidents, including President George H.W. Bush, with whom he co-authored the book "Man of Integrity." Read more reports from Doug Wead — Click Here Now.
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