PRICEY

Report: Chinese Bank Offered Clients Dinner With Trump for $150,000

Trump’s re-election campaign has reportedly alerted the Department of Justice about the “unauthorized” solicitation.

China Construction Bank, Beijing’s second-largest state-owned bank, offered clients the chance to have dinner with President Trump for $150,000 at an upcoming RNC event, Bloomberg reports. The offer was reportedly made in advertisements for a $50,000-a-ticket fundraising event in Dallas scheduled for May 31. The bank’s high-net-worth clients were told they’d get a chance to mingle with “tycoons,” get photographed with Trump, and receive his autograph, according to the report. Officials for Trump’s re-election campaign and the RNC have said they were unaware of the “unauthorized” offers, and the campaign reportedly filed a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department over the matter. The invitations, which were sent out as Trump met with Chinese officials to discuss an ongoing trade dispute, also reportedly included a reference to ZTE, the Chinese phone-maker accused of violating U.S. sanctions before it was offered a reprieve from Trump earlier this week. The bank’s clients were told ZTE representatives would be in attendance at the dinner amid easing “Sino-U.S. trade frictions,” according to Bloomberg.