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Trump the Business vs Trump the President


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This was brought up a tiny bit during the election, but I am curious how this will work for the next 4 years.

 

Here is a (long, but worth it imo) Newsweek article from September that laid out known locations where he does business, and how many foreign policy decisions he makes will be ethical dilemmas.

 

A close examination by Newsweek of the Trump Organization, including confidential interviews with business executives and some of its international partners, reveals an enterprise with deep ties to global financiers, foreign politicians and even criminals, although there is no evidence the Trump Organization has engaged in any illegal activities. It also reveals a web of contractual entanglements that could not be just canceled. If Trump moves into the White House and his family continues to receive any benefit from the company, during or even after his presidency, almost every foreign policy decision he makes will raise serious conflicts of interest and ethical quagmires.

 

 

Here is a shorter article from Bloomberg yesterday that touches on similar themes to the Newsweek one.

 

Donald Trump, the businessman, is about to run headlong into Donald Trump, the president.

 

With his stunning election victory on Tuesday night, Trump now confronts more potential conflicts of interest than any other president in U.S. history. How -- or even whether -- the billionaire navigates this minefield could have sweeping implications at home and abroad.

 

He pays rent to the federal government for the rights to operate his new hotel in Washington, his international deals could influence statecraft and his biggest lender, Deutsche Bank AG, is currently negotiating a settlement with the Justice Department over its mortgage-securities business.

 

While most of Trump’s $3 billion net worth derives from properties in America, he also has licensing and management agreements for projects in Turkey, South Korea, India, Uruguay, Brazil and the Philippines. He owns three golf courses in Ireland and Scotland, with two more planned for the United Arab Emirates.

 

He faces the prospect of foreign leaders seeking to curry favor with the U.S. president by green-lighting projects or providing favorable terms to developers linked to Trump.

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I think when some of this was brought up during the election he said he'd let the day to day activities be run by the kids. (I think it was a Stephanopolous interview) and he didn't understand at that time that he could have zero involvement, that he would still have access to influencing the kids and knowing what was going on, and that he can't. That things would need to be put into a trust in order to meet the needs of office. They also interviewed the blonde son about it who said the same thing. Obviously he'll be held to a standard yet to be fully determined.

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FWIW, his kids (Don Jr., I think) went on w/ Stephanopolous as well and had the same response.

 

The GF and I had a talk about that for a bit tonight. Going to be interesting to see what they do. He seems resistant to a blind trust. Because of course he is. Does anyone believe Trump is not going to try to game the system to his favor, as evidenced by past behavior?

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I believe Giuliani is correct here, and there are fair reasons why they don't. He's talking less about an attitude than a legal reality. Nonetheless, the situation is unprecedented and there's also good reasons to worry.

 

Here is a report that lays out the requirements: https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43365.pdf

 

 

18 U.S.C. ' 202©. The statute does not cover elected officials such as the President and Vice President because it may have potentially interfered with constitutionally required functions.

 

Its fascinating that he is trying to get his children into positions though. Very entertaining.

 

Also good reading on the topic: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferwang/2016/11/15/why-trump-wont-use-a-blind-trust-and-what-his-predecessors-did-with-their-assets/#7d9ded687915

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I'm begging someone to explain to me what credentials any of his kids have in national security that would make them of any use as a National Security Advisor.

 

Please educate me.

I can't.

 

One comment I read yesterday is that they'd need some sort of clearance to get into certain parts of the White House. If that's so I'd think perhaps his wife and the kid that still lives with them would probably be on the top of the list, not the trust fund kids that all live in their own penthouses in NYC.

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From The New Yorker:

 

“It’s a tremendous problem when it’s completely obvious how someone seeking governmental action from the United States can provide substantial benefit to its chief executive,” Arlo Devlin-Brown, a partner at Covington and Burling, who oversaw the Silver and Skelos prosecutions as the chief of the public-corruption unit at the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office, said.

Hey, Italy survived Berlusconi. We'll get through this.

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