Maybe Donald Trump never learned the phrase “put your money where your mouth is.” Upon review of his Personal Financial Disclosure it turns out that presumed Republican nominee has invested and profited from multiple companies he’s slammed on the trail.
Mondelez International
Trump invested in the parent company of Nabisco, which he has has brought up a lot for outsourcing jobs to Mexico.
“I’m never eating Oreos again ... I love Oreos. I will never eat them again. Nabisco closes the plant in Chicago and they are moving the plant to Mexico.” (Fortune, August 2015)
Ford
Trump has called the automobile company’s decision to build a plant in Mexico an “absolute disgrace” and said it would never happen under a Trump administration. At one rally he told supporters he'd call the CEO of Ford and threaten a 35% tax on any car made in Mexico.
‘Let me give you the bad news. Every car, and every truck and every part manufactured in this plant that comes across the border, we’re going to charge you a 35% tax. Okay? And that tax is going to be paid simultaneously with the transaction, and that’s it.’” (Fortune, December 2015)
General Electric
Trump has put money into General Electric. But while campaigning in Connecticut, he called General Electric’s move of jobs outside the state “devastating.”
"It's so devastating to lose a company like General Electric ... I'm going to bring jobs back to Connecticut and to the country. We're not going to let them go to Mexico. … They're going everywhere but here because we have people that don't know how to deal, they don't know how to make deals.” (Hartford Courant, April 2016)
Disney
Trump bashed the company over a lawsuit that accused them of replacing American workers with foreigners using H1-B visas — and then requiring them to train their replacements. But his anger at the company didn't stop him from investing.
“I remain totally committed to eliminating rampant, widespread H-1B abuse and ending outrageous practices such as those that occurred at Disney in Florida when Americans were forced to train their foreign replacements. I will end forever the use of the H-1B as a cheap labor program, and institute an absolute requirement to hire American workers first for every visa and immigration program. No exceptions." (Donald J. Trump, March 2016)
Apple
After the technology company refused to unlock the phones of the shooters in the San Bernardino massacre, Trump called on his supporters to ban Apple products. Yet, his financial disclosures show he invested in Apple.
“I like the idea of a boycott of Apple until such time as they give that information.” (Politico, February 2016)
United Technologies Corporation
Trump also invested in the parent company to Carrier Corp., an Indiana-based air-conditioning manufacturer that is in the process of outsourcing thousands of jobs to Mexico. In an interview with Breitbart News after Carrier's announcement, Trump spoke broadly about the need to lower taxes.
“First of all, you’re going to have to look to lower taxes [for those who do business inside the United States] — and we may very well have to charge taxes at the border, when somebody drives a car through the border to sell it in the United States. But look, we’ve closed our plants. We’ve lost our jobs. They’re not going to build cars in Mexico and sell them in the United States, OK? We can lower our taxes, and we’re probably going to have to charge a surtax at the border. Otherwise we’re going to lose a fortune. And that will help Ford and other people make a decision to buy in the United States, to build in the United States.” (Breitbart News, February 2016)
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to request for comment.
