President Trump is making his “mark” on both sides of the wall.
The Mexican Institute of Industrial Properties approved a series of trademarks for the Trump brand, covering such operations as hotels, construction, and insurance and financial services, the Associated Press reported on Sunday.
The trademarks were authorized on Feb. 21, a little after his inauguration, and on Oct. 6, a month before the presidential election, the wire service reported, citing records.
The trademarks, held in the name of Donald J. Trump, expired in 2015. The new authorizations list the owner as DTTM Operations LLC, with an address in the Trump Tower.
Alan Garten, the chief legal officer for the Trump Organization, said no special favors were given by the Mexican government.
“We’re not being granted anything we didn’t have before,” Garten said. The initial trademarks came “years before (Trump) even announced his candidacy.”
He said the trademarks are defensive, designed to protect Trump’s business interests.
“He’s been elected and we agreed not to do foreign deals,” Garten said.
A report last week said China granted preliminary approval to 38 Trump trademarks as the president and his family try to launch branded businesses in the country, including hotel chains and golf clubs.
But ethics watchdogs in the US questioned the timing, saying if China gave Trump preferred treatment the president could be in violation of the Constitution, which bans public officials from accepting anything of value from foreign governments.
The OK from Mexico prompted another round of concerns from ethics watchdogs.
Richard Painter, who served as a ethics lawyer in former President George W. Bush’s White House, said it’s a “gray”area.
“To what extent is this appropriate? I don’t know,” he told the AP. “We never had Obama running around the world locking up his name, or Bush.”



