The term “conflict of interest” has repeatedly come up in connection with Donald Trump’s presidency, often in connection with Republicans being encouraged to hold events in Trump properties. But a different type of Trump-related cronyism is being reported in the Arizona Daily Star: according to the Star’s Curt Prendergast, a company that is helping construct a border wall in Arizona has ties to a Trump-friendly PAC (political action committee).
Prendergast reports that 30-foot steel poles being “erected” in Arizona as part of a southern border wall have the name Atlas Tube on them; Atlas Tube is a Chicago-based division of Zekelman Industries —which is run by Canadian billionaire Barry Zekelman. According to Prendergast, Barry Zekelman led a “wide-ranging effort to urge Trump and other officials to place tariffs and import quotas on steel.”
“That effort included a $1.75 million donation to a pro-Trump super PAC and meeting with Trump and others in April 2018,” Prendergast reports. Continue reading.