President Donald Trump's business interests are behind his recent policy decisions concerning Russia, China and Turkey, according to California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell.
"I think the reason that [Trump] drew himself so closely to the Russians was that the Russians liked him and they invested in him. And he has made decisions that seem to favor them more than what would be our national security interests," the congressman said Tuesday on CNN's "New Day."
Trump tweeted on Sunday that he would order federal officials to help Chinese telecommunications company ZTE, in a move that both Democrats and Republicans criticized as being out of line with his "America first" motto.
HuffPost reported on Monday that Trump gave the order only 72 hours after the Chinese government agreed to invest $500 million in an Indonesian construction project that will personally benefit him.
"With China, they did the same thing," Swalwell continued. "Turkey — he has projects over there. When you ask, why does he like President [Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan so much? Well, there's a Trump Tower over in Turkey. So it does seem like the simplest explanation is the correct one — it's money."
He added that "the best thing the president can do now, two years into his presidency, is completely divest. Too many issues have been raised over these two years. Show us that the presidency is more important than your businesses."
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.