CONFLICT OF INTEREST: Donald Trump’s Children To Run His Companies During His Time In Office

Bloomberg reports:

Three of President-elect Donald Trump’s children will run his Trump Organization during his time in office, the company said Friday. “We are in the process of vetting various structures with the goal of the immediate transfer of management of The Trump Organization and its portfolio of businesses to Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric Trump along with a team of highly skilled executives,” the New York-based company said in an e-mailed statement. “This is a top priority at the Organization and the structure that is ultimately selected will comply with all applicable rules and regulations.”

The Trump children also serve on the presidential transition team. The billionaire’s sprawling businesses, spanning several countries, present unprecedented potential conflicts of interest for a U.S. president. No laws exist that require Trump to distance himself from his commercial and residential real estate businesses, including hotels, golf courses and international licensing deals. While he will be required to continue to file asset disclosures, presidents are otherwise mostly exempt from the 1978 Ethics in Government Act — an exception derived from the belief that such rules could keep commanders-in-chief from making tough decisions.

From the New York Daily News:

“They’ll be responsible for appointing people to regulate businesses,” Kenneth Gross, an ethics lawyer based in Washington D.C. told the Daily News. “It’s a signal in the direction that a strict separation may not be there which I think is important because the potential conflicts between his business holdings and governmental functions are unprecedented in their breadth and depth,” he said.

“This is potentially very problematic as Trump has already said that his children will be running his business efforts in his stead. It raises a serious question of conflict of interest and just what, exactly, they are there to represent,”

Conflicts could arise with Trump’s business ties to countries with strained relations with the U.S., like China or Russia, experts say. Trump has taken loans from the Bank of China, for example, which is controlled by the Chinese government.

“You could conjure up a whole bunch of scenarios in which China would try to sweeten the post with Trump,” Ross said. Experts say Trump could tread into unconstitutional territory if his enterprises dealings with foreign governments or government-run businesses are so profitable as to be considered a “gift.”