Tag: trump businesses
New Study Finds Over 2000 Ethical Conflicts For Trump Since 2017

New Study Finds Over 2000 Ethical Conflicts For Trump Since 2017

Reprinted with permission from Alternet

During his 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump vehemently railed against crony capitalism and conflicts of interest in Washington, D.C. — promising to “drain the swamp” if elected. But according to a newly released in-depth study by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Trump has done just the opposite as president.

The number of conflicts of interest during Trump’s presidency, according to CREW, is at least 2,310 “resulting from President Trump’s decision to retain his business interests.”

Trump, CREW reports, has “visited his properties 362 times at taxpayer expense” as president and has “used the presidency to provide free publicity for his properties.” And the Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C., according to CREW, has “raked in $2.4 million in traceable political spending” during his presidency.

As president, CREW notes, Trump has “spent all or part of almost one-third of the days he’s been president at one of his properties.” Not surprisingly, Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in South Florida, according to CREW, tops the list with 99 visits since he’s been in office — and that is in addition to 64 visits to the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida and 60 visits to the Trump National Golf Club in Potomac Falls, Virginia.

CREW spokesman Jordan Libowitz told Yahoo Finance that the number of conflicts of interest during Trump’s presidency could be even higher than what CREW reports because the study only includes information CREW had access to.

Libowitz noted that previous presidents “from both parties” went out of their way to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interest. For example, Libowitz told Yahoo Finance, President Ronald Reagan and President George H.W. Bush put all of their assets in blind trusts so that “there was no way they could be influenced by what they owned business-wise.”

Trump, however, created a “revocable and non-blind trust,” Yahoo Finance’s Kristin Myers notes, and can remove money from it with the permission of the person he has chosen as trustee: his son, Donald Trump, Jr. The president’s son now serves as executive vice president of the Trump Organization.

In the past, Libowitz asserted, it was the “norm” for presidents to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. However, “Now you have a president who doesn’t,” Libowitz told Yahoo Finance. “And it has become a major problem.”

Conflict Of Interest? Trump Delays Announcement On Separation From His Business

Conflict Of Interest? Trump Delays Announcement On Separation From His Business

(Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has delayed until January an announcement originally set for this week on how he plans to step back from running his business empire to avoid conflicts of interest, his spokesman said on Monday.

Among Trump’s holdings are hotels and golf resorts from Panama to Scotland, besides a winery and modeling agency. Legal experts say the only way he could entirely avoid conflicts of interest would be to sell his global holdings.

Last month Trump said he would hold a news conference on Thursday to spell out how he would separate himself “in total” from his worldwide business holdings.

“The announcement will be in January,” Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said on Monday, without giving any reason. The Republican president-elect has not held a news conference since winning the Nov. 8 election.

After Trump’s victory, his company, the Trump Organization, said it was looking at new business structures with the goal of transferring control to Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump, three of his children who are involved with the company.

In a series of messages on social network Twitter, Trump said he would leave his businesses before taking office on Jan. 20, to focus on the presidency.

“Two of my children, Don and Eric, plus executives, will manage them,” Trump tweeted late on Monday. “No new deals will be done during my term(s) in office.”

The messages did not mention a role for Ivanka Trump in the businesses. Trump added that he would hold a news conference in the “near future” to discuss business matters, his cabinet picks and other topics.

In a series of tweets last month, Trump said, “Legal documents are being crafted which take me completely out of business operations.” He did not say what the planned change might mean for ownership of his businesses.

IMAGE: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S., July 27, 2016.  REUTERS/Carlo Allegri