Donald Trump is President-elect of the United States of America. He brings with him potential conflicts of interest across all areas of government that are unprecedented in American history. It will be interesting to observe how the Trump administration manages these conflicts of interests, even as more and more business families enter politics.
Trump, has thus far refused to put his businesses into a blind trust the way his predecessors in the nation’s highest office have traditionally done. Instead he has said his businesses will be run by his own adult children. Donald Trump Jr, Trump’s eldest child, has insisted that Trump’s holdings would go into a trust managed by him and his siblings Eric and Ivanka Trump. However, Donald Jr, Eric and Ivanka Trump are also on the president-elect’s transition team executive committee, as is Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Trump owns hotels in several US cities. As such the Trump Organization will have to negotiate for power, water, maintenance, security, billing and any number of other logistical details with government service providers. He also owns properties in several countries including Istanbul, India, Canada and South Korea. Thus the name of the US president would be used across the world while negotiating leases and construction deals. Then there is the entire matter of the president-elect’s stock portfolio. His interests in several different companies may lead to scandals of insider trading.
Source: The Guardian