Trump Warns Panamanian Pres. of "Repercussions"

...if the president of Panama does not intervene in or overturn a legal decision made in a Panamanian court that went against a Trump hotel.

NO I AM NOT KIDDING.

I thought about existing threads but I didn't see anything and it's so egregious and shocking (just when you think nothing can shock you with them anymore...) bolding mine.

In short, the Trump Int'l hotel in Panama was losing business, was bought by someone who sought to strip the brand off, fired some ppl who had worked there, and the brand fought back, went to court, and lost to the new owner of the property. Then the Trump org sent a letter to the President of Panama and other gov't officials saying they were violating treaties, asking them directly to intervene in the court decision and saying there could be repercussions if they did not. I ... yes, really. The AP and WaPo have the letter.

Lawyers representing President Trump’s company last month wrote directly to the president of Panama, asking him to intervene in a legal fight over the Trump International Hotel in the capital — and warning that the case could have “repercussions” for Panama’s reputation.

The law firm, Panama-based Britton and Iglesias, wrote in Spanish to President Juan Carlos Varela on March 22 to “urgently request your influence in relation to a commercial dispute regarding the Trump hotel.”

At the time, the majority owner of the Trump hotel — Cypriot-born investor Orestes Fintiklis — had kicked out the Trump Organization as the hotel’s manager, after a ruling from a low-level Panamanian judge. The president’s company was seeking to retake control....

On Monday, Panama’s foreign secretary, Isabel de Saint Malo, told the Associated Press that her office had also received a copy.

“It is a letter that urges Panama’s executive branch to interfere in an issue clearly of the judicial branch,” de Saint Malo said. “I don’t believe the executive branch has a position to take while the issue is in the judicial process.”...

In the letter to Panama’s president, the Trump Organization’s attorneys said Trump’s company had been treated poorly by the Panamanian courts — so poorly, in fact, that its mistreatment violated a 1983 treaty between the United States and Panama governing investments.

In particular, the letter cites “irregularities” in decisions by Cheng. The lawyers say that Cheng had moved too quickly and had ignored an existing international arbitration case over the hotel.

“This situation is currently before the courts, but it has repercussions for the Panamanian state, which is your responsibility,” said the letter, signed by attorney Eric Britton

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