Conflict Of Interest

America has successfully elected a President to hold office from January 20, 2017 for a period of 4 years. Working White in the Rust Belt of the United States strongly voted for Republican candidate Mr. Trump resulting in Mr. Trump edging the electoral college in his favor (despite the popular vote in favor of Mrs. Clinton) and against Democratic nominee Mrs. Clinton. His selling points were a) bringing change to Washington by removing strangulating hold of the politicians from both aisle, b) removing corruption in high places (particularly with reference to Clinton Foundation), c) Building a wall across the border of Mexico, d) banning Muslims from entering the United States until the US could figure out who are the enemies of the US, e) bring stricter legislation with reference to immigration, f) bring back the jobs rightly belonging to the Americans, and f) repeal Obamacare as it is preventing the small businesses to flourish. Even though, he has appointed many billionaires in his cabinet, he avoided major Republican leaders fulfilling his promise. Mr. Trump believes he and his would-be colleagues can deliver good results governing the US as they have a rich experience managing the corporate world.

The purpose of this snippet is to cover the conflict of interest arising by Mr. Trump continuing his ownership in his group of companies despite assuming the office of the President on January 20, 2017. Mr. Trump will be in violation of the Article 1, Section 9, Clause 8 which states, “No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign state”.

There is no way for the American public to know the full extent of Mr. Trump’s ownership interests in various countries as he refused to release his tax returns complying with the tradition of all Presidential nominees of both parties releasing their tax returns for many years. Mr. Trump excused himself as he was under IRS audit. Many of the past Presidents released their ownership and interest in various organizations before assuming the office of the President. However, many in Trump campaign argue that his situation is unique and different as he owns a group of companies with interest in multiple countries.

Mr. Trump himself declared through his tweet, “While I am not mandated to do this under the law, I feel it is visually important, as President, to in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses. Hence, legal documents are being crafted which take me completely out of business operations. The Presidency is far more important task”. Trump specifically noted that his foreign holdings in Turkey poses a conflict. Trump International Hotel in Washington is built on a leased property from the federal government and people in Trump campaign are arguing that the past agreements and what was agreed to in such agreements before he became the President could not be considered as conflict. In fact, Mr. Trump himself said this month that he was turning down billions of dollars of deals.

Those who have worked in the corporate world are fully aware that it is physically not possible to liquidate all the assets in a group of companies in a short time. However, Mr. Trump’s announcement that the operations will be formally transferred to his adult children is troubling as we have seen the governments worldwide are influenced through the family members. More disturbing is the news that his daughter Ivanka sat in the meeting with the Prime Minister of Japan while finalizing a deal in that country. The newspapers are stating that after Mr. Trump met with Argentina’s President, a previously stalled Trump building project in that country was revived due to renewed willingness to issue the necessary building permits. It is in the news that the largest office tenant in the Trump Tower office and apartment complex in Manhattan is the state-controlled Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd, which is due to renegotiate its lease in 2019. There are many reports that some foreign states are conducting their national celebrations in Trump properties worldwide to please the President-elect and booking rooms for the visiting officials in Trump properties in the United States. Besides Trump has already announced that he would continue as the Executive Producer of the NBC reality television show “Celebrity Apprentice”.

The question that comes to our mind with respect to these conflicts of interests are, a) Mr. Trump’s organization owes a lot of debt to various banks including international banks and is it okay if such banks offer favorable terms or write-off debts to obtain favor from the federal government?, b) Is it okay for Mr. Trump’s adult children to get involved in West Wing offices and participate in the meetings with respect to the government related matters?, c) is it okay for other governments to offer permits and other favorable terms to Trump properties in various parts of the world?, and d) Is it okay if various government agencies within the US are unable to question the Trump organizations with respect to compliance of law or other matters?

Only the President-elect and the future congress could answer many questions raised by the American people. We must wait and see how these conflicts are resolved by the legal brains assisting Mr. Trump. If the President-elect were to focus his attention in addressing various issues of the American people, he must make these conflicts go away so that no time is spent by the congress in addressing these issues. The very same issues he raised in his campaign against his opponent should not become a huddle for him to serve as the President of the United States.

 

Dear Akanksha,

Jared Kushner who married Ivanka Trump has net worth of $200 million according to various sources. I understand Ivanka's net worth is over $150 million. In his late 20s he bought the most expensive real estate in the US worth more than $1 Billion. Ivanka converted to Judism to marry him. Some say he was de facto campaign manager for Trump's campaign. There is no doubt he was powerful in Trump's campaign management and continues to be powerful in determining who will be part of Trump's administration. Already Jewish lobby is very powerful in the Congress and with Jared being so powerful in Trump's administration, Jewish influence in Trump's administration is expected to be very strong.

Viswa

 

Dear Balance,

Personally, I agree we should give him a chance to succeed as a President unlike what Republicans did to President Obama. But Constitution prescribes certain principles for the Presidents to follow. Traditionally, many Presidents transferred their ownership interest to a blind trust or sold their ownership. Prevention is better than cure. Congress should be busy legislating rather than investigating whether Mr.Trump is profiting in his personal business from his position as a President in future. So far, Mr.Trump's business practices are questionable. There were many reports about Trump refusing to pay the vendors for their products and services, filing bankruptcy on behalf of his businesses, settlling case on behalf of Trump University, etc. There was also a report that Trump Charitable Foundation registered as not for profit has funded personal legal fees. Hopefully, he would be responsible as the President. Last thing, the country wants is another impeachment proceedings against an elected President. It is not only waste of time and money but also country's progress will be stalled.

Viswa