Russian Company Puts Trump’s Face on Asbestos Product

Uralasbest, a Russian asbestos company that operates a mine in the Ural Mountains, has placed Donald Trump’s image on pallets of asbestos, accompanied by the words, “Approved by Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States.”

It’s certainly an image that has prompted plenty of chuckles but, in reality, it’s a sad commentary on the president’s opinion about the safety of asbestos products.

The company recently turned to its Facebook page to advertise the marketing ploy. Pictures there included images of pallets full of asbestos, the wrapping stamped with Trump’s face. Below the photo, the caption “Donald is on our side” appeared.

“He supported the head of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, who stated that his agency would no longer deal with negative effects potentially derived from products containing asbestos.

Donald Trump supported a specialist and called asbestos ‘100% safe after application,’” the caption continued.

Pruitt stepped down from his position last week amid scandals, none of which had anything to do with asbestos. However, before he left, he did plenty of harm, leading the EPA to a decision not to ban new uses of asbestos products in the U.S.

It’s a move that angered many, especially those who have fought for the rights of individuals with asbestos-caused diseases.

Supposedly, the Uralasbest Mining Company has ties to Russian president Vladimir Putin, who is meeting with Trump in Helsinki later this week.

The mine sits in the town of Asbest, which many Russians call “The Dying City”, simply because so many of its residents have succumbed to lung ailments, including mesothelioma cancer.

“Vladimir Putin and Russia’s asbestos industry stand to prosper mightily as a result of the Trump administration’s failure to ban asbestos in the US,” opined Ken Cook, president of the Environmental Working Group, a grass roots organization that “empowers people to live healthy lives in a healthy environment.”

Trump, in his 1997 book, “The Art of the Comeback”, stated that he believed asbestos was 100 percent safe once applied and that the asbestos opposition push was led by the Mob.

“I believe that the movement against asbestos was led by the mob, because it was often mob-related companies that would do the asbestos removal. Great pressure was put on politicians, and as usual, the politicians relented,” he wrote in the same book.