Trump’s Trust Is Untrustworthy–He Can Dip Into It Whenever He Wants (VIDEO, TWEETS)

By
Darrell Lucus
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One of the measures Donald Trump supposedly took to resolve his stratospheric conflicts of interest was to put his real estate empire, the Trump Organization, into a trust controlled by his sons. Why “supposedly”? Well, Trump still retains controlling interest in his company. Additionally, he will still continue to receive many of the proceeds from deals with foreign governments and state-owned enterprises–a clear violation of the Emoluments Clause, which forbids government officials from taking gifts from foreign governments. For that reason, ethics experts contended that nothing short of complete divestment would have resolved the conflicts.


Well, the folks at ProPublica uncovered more evidence that this trust is an elaborate farce. Apparently Trump can take money out of the trust whenever he pleases.

ProPublica took a deep dive into an amended certification document for the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, signed on February 10. It was released when the General Services Administration found that the Trump Organization could continue to operate a luxury hotel inside the Old Post Office Pavilion, just blocks from the White House. Since Trump transferred his controlling interest in the hotel to the trust, the GSA found that the Trump Organization was not in violation of a clause in the lease barring elected officials from holding any stake in the hotel.

The GSA’s decision was downright laughable, considering that the trust is overseen by Trump’s two grown sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, and longtime Trump Organization lawyer and chief financial officer Alan Weisselberg. However, it is even more so in light of this breathtaking clause in the trust document.

“The Trustees shall distribute net income or principal to Donald J. Trump at his request, as the Trustees deem necessary for his maintenance, support or uninsured medical expenses, or as the Trustees otherwise deem appropriate.”

Under this wording, Trump can not only tap into the profits from his businesses, but also “the underlying assets, such as the businesses themselves.” Small wonder that estate law expert Frederick Tansill called this provision “incredibly broad.” Tansill also noticed that the trust documents give Trump sweeping rights to “the trust principal and income as necessary.”

What makes this even more breathtaking is that we won’t know if, or when, Trump takes money out of the trust. Like the Trump Organization, the Trump Revocable Trust is privately held. He could theoretically list any profits he takes in his federal financial disclosure statement next spring, but he isn’t required to do so. The only certain way to know whether he dipped into the trust is if he releases his tax returns. As we know by now, he isn’t willing to do so.

As if that wasn’t enough, Eric Trump plans to give his father regular briefings on the company, even though the trust documents appear to bar Trump from knowing about “the holdings or sources of income of the Trust.”

ProPublica provided a detailed look at the changes to the trust document here. Apparently such details don’t matter to the White House, if Monday’s press briefing was any indication. Watch a clip here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBJT4B-aTzw

When asked about the changes, Spicer harrumphed that he didn’t know about them–and we shouldn’t assume they were made just because ProPublica said they were made.

“Just because a left-wing blog makes the point of something changing doesn’t mean it actually happened.”

This was a long-winded version of the Trump administration’s standard response to criticism–“(noun) (verb) FAKE NEWS!” Well, the folks at ProPublica decided to give Spicer–and by extension, Trump–a brutal lesson in fact checking.

And just in case Spicer and Trump still think ProPublica is biased …

Can you say “mic drop”? Apparently Spicer is still dealing with the feedback, because he hasn’t responded on either his personal or official Twitter feeds. Nor have we seen any angry tweets from Trump, even though he goes into a 140-character rage at the tiniest slight.


Perhaps Spicer and Trump know ProPublica has them busted. After all, Spicer tacitly admitted that Trump can pull money from his businesses any time he pleases. Oh, that’s right–since he was called out by a mere “left-wing blog,” it doesn’t really count. Put another way, though, Spicer admitted what we’ve known for some time–facts have a liberal bias.

(featured image courtesy Gage Skidmore, available under a Creative Commons BY-SA license)

Darrell Lucus
Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.

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