Trump, from business in China to duties: the past returns with viral web video

An old 2012 interview with David Letterman resurfaces in which the current president sidesteps criticism of his “made in China” ties, while today he leads the trade war against Beijing

In the midst of his trade offensive against China, Donald Trump finds himself back in the spotlight for his business past. A video resurfaced on X shows an old interview from 2012 on David Letterman’s “Late Show”, where the current US president, then an entrepreneur, presented his clothing line made largely in Asia.

During the episode, Letterman pressed Trump on the origin of his products: shirts from Bangladesh and ties from China. When asked ‘Where are these ties made?’, the tycoon hesitantly replied, admitting that they were made in China. ‘Let’s close Donald Trump’s factory in Beijing and open it in Queens,’ Letterman joked, suggesting a return to American manufacturing.

Today, however, it is Trump himself – now president – who is imposing record duties against Beijing, in the name of protecting the US economy. A strategy that, in his intentions, aims to bring jobs and production back to the United States, reversing the very model of delocalisation from which it had benefited.

The contrast between past and present has not escaped social media, where the video is circulating with millions of views, fuelling the debate on the contradictions between the Trump entrepreneur and the Trump president.

Trump, the ‘smart businessman,’ had his clothing line manufactured in India and China to cut costs — then marked it up 600% at Macy’s to maximize profit.

‘Made in America’? ‘Buy American’?
Trump never practiced what he preaches… pic.twitter.com/NvkLi5gsB0

— Agent Self FBI (@RetroAgent12) April 7, 2025

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(Photo: © AndKronos)