A Chinese businessman plans to revitalize the rundown military academy President Donald Trump used to attend.
The president’s old high school, The New York Military Academy (NYMA) in Cornwall, New York, is receiving a much needed fixer-upper from Allen Lu, a Chinese businessman who created a chain of private schools in China.
At a town-council meeting in Cornwall in February, Lu’s associate, Linsen Zhang, announced that Lu had taken over the academy as the new owner, touting him as a “visionary on education,” said The Wall Street Journal.
“We are here to make the commitment to fixing everything,” he declared.
The Journal reported there being broken roof tiles on certain buildings, rusted army cannons at the academy’s entrance propped up on deflated tires, grass growing through cracks in a tennis court, and even a nest of vultures atop a chimney.
When Trump joined the academy in 1963, the 136-year-old institution boasted more than 500 students, its halls seeing the likes of legendary composer Stephen Sondheim.
Last week, Trump praised his old stomping ground in his commencement speech to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point’s class of 2025, NYMA located only six miles away from the prestigious academy.
“This is a beautiful place,“ Trump said. “I have been here many times, going to high school not so far away. A good place. Also a military academy. Not quite of this distinction. But it was a lot of fun for me.”
White House communications director Steven Cheung added in a separate statement that the president was “proud” of his time at NYMA and “learned important virtues that helped him become one of the greatest businessmen in the world and ultimately president of the United States twice.”
This change in ownership to a Chinese entrepreneur comes at a contentious time for China and U.S. relations with Trump still at odds with the country’s president, Xi Jinping following his “Liberation Day” tariffs that forcefully targeted China.
Prior to Lu, another Chinese businessman, Tianquan Mo, also tried to revive the academy after it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2015, which earned him some pushback from the government.
Former national security adviser and then-Rep. Michael Waltz expressed his concern over the acquisition in a 2023 letter to then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, saying that it was “incredibly concerning” that certain American private schools were “owned by companies with strong ties to the Chinese Communist Party.”
“From Florida to New York, there is clear evidence that the ownership of these schools are linked to our greatest adversary and it’s ridiculous that we are developing potential future military leaders through JROTC programs where the CCP could be shaping school curriculum and activities,” Waltz said.
In 2013, Mo was a member of the 13th Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference National Committee, which is a political advisory board supervised by the CCP.
But after Mo saved the academy from bankruptcy, locals said it only deteriorated even further with enrollment falling to new lows and the infrastructure of the academy literally falling apart, said the Journal.
Zhang said that Lu has plans to bring enrollment back up to 1,500 students, the academy saying that it is “in the midst of a critical transformation”
The Journal reported that in June, new improvements were already being made to the school, from new slats to repair a fence and posters advertising activities such as drone training.
According to NYMA’S website, Lu, who founded the Guanghua Education Group, which boasts dozens of private schools, is now chairman of the board of trustees at the academy.
Two associates from his company are also on the board of five members, as well as Mo, who continues to maintain his seat as a board member.
