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ON POLITICS
Donald Trump

Report: Trump violated Cuba trade embargo

Eliza Collins
USA TODAY
Donald Trump speaks at a rally on September 28, 2016 in Waukesha, Wis.

Newsweek is out with a new charge against Donald Trump. The magazine is reporting that Trump violated the United States’ embargo with Cuba.

In 1998 a company controlled by Trump spent at least $68,000 to reimburse consultants sent to Cuba to explore hotel opportunities on behalf of the company, according to Newsweek.

The trip came while Fidel Castro was in power and the U.S. had an embargo on any exports to Cuba.

The magazine said the trip took place just months before Trump’s short-lived run for president in 1999. He had a campaign kick-off event in Miami with a group of Cuban-Americans. During the announcement Trump vowed to never spend money in Cuba until Castro was no longer in power — he never disclosed that he had already spent money through a complicated process.

“As you know—and the people in this room know better than anyone—putting money and investing money in Cuba right now doesn’t go to the people of Cuba,’’ Trump said according to Newsweek. “It goes to Fidel Castro. He’s a murderer, he’s a killer, he’s a bad guy in every respect, and, frankly, the embargo must stand if for no other reason than, if it does stand, he will come down.”

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Newsweek said it received no response to the allegations from the Trump campaign or his company.

Later Thursday Hillary Clinton's campaign released a statement based on the report.

“Trump’s business with Cuba appears to have broken the law, flouted U.S. foreign policy, and is in complete contradiction to Trump’s own repeated, public statements that he had been offered opportunities to invest in Cuba but passed them up. This latest report shows once again that Trump will always put his own business interest ahead of the national interest - and has no trouble lying about it," senior policy adviser Jake Sullivan said in the statement.

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