Why Vietnam ignored his own laws to pursue a Trump Family Golf Complex too quickly

When officials recently went from door to door in the home province of Vietnam's top leader and the residents urged letters to sign the plans of the Trump organization for a new golf community, Le van Truong wanted to refuse.

The planning documents promised a “new benchmark in luxury, relaxation and business”. Mr. Truong, 54, imagined something else: the uprooting of a cemetery with five generations of his ancestors and the loss of rich farmland, which has been experiencing local families for centuries.

Nevertheless, he still signed because, as he put it, I can't do anything. “

“Trump says it is separated – the presidency and his business,” said Truong. “But he has the power to do what he wants.”

This 1.5 billion dollar -Golf complex outside the capital, Hanoi, as well as plans for a Trump -cloud scratch in Ho -chi -Minh -Stadt are the first projects of the Trump family in Vietnam -part of a global company that has not tried a family of a sitting American president in this scale. And since this flash makes the Trumps richer, it distorts how countries interact with the United States.

In order to quickly pursue the Trump development, Vietnam ignored his own laws, said legal experts and granted concessions more generously than what even the most associated locals receive. In a letter from the New York Times, Vietnamese officials expressly found that the project required special support from the top ranks of the Vietnamese government, since it “received special attention from the Trump administration and President Donald Trump”.

And Vietnamese civil servants have swung the development in a moment of diplomacy with high stakes. They are exposed to intensive pressure to complete a trade agreement that would listen to the threat from President Trump by steep tariffs, which would achieve about 30 percent of Vietnam's exports.