https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/02/w...rump-debt.html
I just came across something that mentioned this article. It's vaguely Trump related. Here's a reply from his State Department
Quote:
the State Department says the international financial system will fall apart if governments cannot be held responsible for their predecessors’ debts.
The cliff's on it is that we bombed the **** out of Cambodia, they had a coup, we supported the coup and lent them $274 million with which they could buy American rice, wheat, cotton and oil (ie it's not really aid, it's a subsidy to Americans). The coup only stayed in power for a few years. Years and interest later that's a $500 million debt that we're still trying to collect.
Quote:
“I look around me, and to me Cambodia does not look like a country that should be in arrears,” the American ambassador, William Heidt, told local journalists in February. He said that the United States wanted to “work out a deal that works for both sides” but that completely canceling the debt was not an option.
“From time to time, for reasons I don’t think that we really fully understand, the Cambodian government feels the need to publicly criticize the United States,” Mr. Heidt said. “I think that reflects some kind of political dynamic inside of Cambodia.”
Like I said it isn't really about Trump, but it's his administration saying this now. Heidt here was appointed by Obama. Trump may not even know Cambodia is a country.
Obviously this is an extreme example, but it's emblematic of a lot of "free trade".