President-elect Donald Trump has a huge business empire. Running it is going to be a challenge now that he is president. He has a lot of conflicts of interest that he needs to get sorted out.
1. Blind Trust
While it’s not illegal, most presidents try to distance themselves from business dealings that could be a conflict of interest. He doesn’t want to sell the company.
He says he would put his assets in a blind trust, which is a good idea. However, Trump said he wants his children to run it. Since his children are also on his transition team, this is not enough distance.
The definition of a blind trust is:
“A financial arrangement in which a person in public office gives the administration of private business interests to an independent trust in order to prevent conflict of interest. Under the trust, the owner does not know how the assets are managed.”
2. Hotel In Washington, D.C.
The Donald has recently opened up a new hotel right near the White House. He has invited foreign visitors to it already. It could potentially get him impeached right after he is inaugurated.
He doesn’t outright own the building. He is leasing it from the General Services Administration (GSA) that Trump will be staffing. The GSA has specific rules about this, so they can prevent conflicts:
“… That might arise between the employees’ interests and their Government duties, and to avoid the appearance of favoritism or preferential treatment.”
3. Argentinian Office Building
Trump and his business partners have been trying to build an office in Buenos Aires for years. When Trump won the election, the Argentinian president, Mauricio Macri, called to congratulate our orange President-elect. Trump then asked him about issues concerning the project. He should not be doing that project now that he will be president.
4. British Wind Farm
Trump has also done business in the United Kingdom — he built a golf course in Scotland. The country wanted to build a wind farm in the area. Trump opposed this because it would mess up the “pristine view” from his resorts. The POTUS shouldn’t be managing properties overseas.
5. Indian Business Partners
Last week, Trump met with three Indian real estate executives to discuss the new Trump-named apartment complex they are building in Mumbai. One of them posted a picture on Twitter, but it has since been deleted.
6. The Philippines
Trump already has an advantage with the Filipino president, Rodrigo Duterte. Duterte has expressed his dislike for President Barack Obama, although Duterte was not as offensive as everyone thinks. The Filipino president said that he admires Trump because they “both enjoy swearing” among other things.
Here is a video from CBS about these issues:
Featured image via screenshot from YouTube video
