MIAMI (WSVN) - Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is facing questions about a troubling company trip.
Newsweek reported Thursday, that, in 1998, a company owned by Trump secretly conducted business in Cuba. That was, at the time, in violation of the embargo.
According to the magazine, Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts spent at least $68,000 on a company trip to Cuba. The report said he explored business opportunities in Havana.
Two days before the report surfaced, Trump met with Cuban-Americans in Little Havana promising to keep the controversial embargo in place if he’s elected president.
“I have so many friends from Cuba, and they are unhappy — not about a deal being made but about the right deal being made,” Trump said during the meeting.
Dr. Jorge Duany of the Florida International University Cuban Research Institute spoke on how the allegations can affect Trump’s campaign. “Politically, it can cost him the support of the Cuba-American community,” he said. “This revelation counters the claims that Mr. Trump has made in recent declarations about the embargo.”
South Florida leaders on both sides of the spectrum responded to the news. “What we have so far are unnamed sources claiming that the Trump organization paid another company, who then spent money with the island,” said Representative Mario Diaz-Balart.
“Well, I’m not surprised,” said Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson, a democrat. “Donald Trump doesn’t respect laws, rules, regulations, treaties.”
It has yet to be shown if the allegations will affect Trump’s polling numbers. “I don’t know anything about that, but I’m gonna vote for him because not for Hillary, you’d have to kill me,” said Dr. Jose Gomez, a Cuban-American voter.
“Now that this has come out, we get to know the real face of Donald Trump,” said Cuban-American Daniel Molina.
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton responded to the allegations as well. “We have laws in our country, and the efforts that Trump is making to get into the Cuban market — putting his business interests ahead of the laws of the United States and the requirements that businesses were operating under because of the sanctions, shows that he puts his personal and business interests ahead of the laws and the values and the policies of the United States of America.
In an interview on ABC Thursday, Trump’s campaign manager acknowledged that the company did consider doing business on the island but ultimately chose not to.
If the allegations are proven to be true, legal action would not be able to be taken against Trump due to the amount of time that has passed.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.