|
| VIEW EVENT INFORMATION: Donald Trump |
|
 |
Donald Trump’s Tangled Web |
|
|
|
|
|
|
About the person Donald Trump:
Art: Corporation, Television, Politics
Genres: Entrepreneur, Construction, Founder, Executive, Management, Real Estate, Urban Development, Presidency, Republican Party, Celebrity TV, Reality Show, Reality TV, Documentary TV, Talk Show, TV News, TV Personality, TV Programming, U.S. Presidency, Conservatism, Federalism, Fiscal Conservatism, Right-wing Populism, Social Conservatism |
|
Notable Organizations: New York Times
|
|
| Donald Trump refused to release his income tax returns during the campaign and now seems determined to lug every piece of financial baggage connected to his hotels, golf courses and other businesses into the White House. Unless he takes the sorts of common-sense steps past presidents have relied on to preserve the public trust, Americans will never know for certain if his actions in office are for the public good or his family’s private gain.
Presidents are not subject to most federal ethics and conflict-of-interest laws, so Mr. Trump won’t be required to sell or give up control of his companies when he takes office in January. In the recent past, this hasn’t been a problem, because presidents by tradition put their assets — stocks, bonds and real estate — into blind trusts, run by independent managers, to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest.
Mr. Trump, however, says that he intends to give control of the Trump Organization and the more than 500 limited liability companies through which he owns his assets to three of his adult children — Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka. But this won’t dissociate him from his businesses; members of his family aren’t independent from him. And they are already intimately involved in his transition team. On Monday, CBS News reported that the transition team was looking into the possibility of seeking top-level security clearances for the Trump children, but Mr. Trump tweeted Wednesday that he was not seeking such security clearances for them.
Even if he no longer manages his businesses directly, Mr. Trump will continue to own them and his family will be involved in deals, both foreign and domestic, to develop real estate projects or license his brand. He will still be aware of the existence of his business interests and how his actions as president will affect them. The conflicts between his private interests and his public role will be impossible to untangle. |
|
|
| Leave Comments: |
|
|
|
|
|
