Donald Trump has business dealings all over
the world.
With Trump in as president, leaders in at
least 18 countries have more than political
interest in the United States.
They will also have potential business leverage
to curry favor with President Trump.
Take China.
China is home to the country’s largest state-owned
commercial bank, the Industrial and Commercial
Bank of China.
But it has an office in Trump Tower in New
York City.
Which means that a foreign government, China,
will be paying its landlord, who also happens
to the President of the United States, nearly
$2 million a year in rent.
Trump has expressed pride in this arrangement.
"People think I don't like China -- I love
China.
The largest bank in the world is a tenet of
mine in Trump Tower.”
But it could get him in trouble
A section of the Constitution called the Emoluments
Clause says Presidents can’t accept payments
or gifts from foreign governments.
The Founders added it during the Constitutional
Convention of 1787 because they were worried
about foreign governments using money to influence
American politicians.
But it’s never really been tested by a President.
Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton,
and George W. Bush all had business ventures
before entering the Oval Office, but they
entrusted their businesses and investments
to outsiders who they didn’t communicate
with while in office.
This arrangement is called a blind trust--
which is also what Donald Trump calls his
plan to put his children in charge of his
business.
But as long as his children can talk to him
about the business, this won’t exempt him
from conflicts of interest.
You can see why if you look at Japan.
When Trump met the country’s Prime Minister,
Shinzo Abe, a few days after the election,
Ivanka Trump was also there.
At the time, Ivanka was working to close a
business deal between her clothing line and
a Japanese company called Sanei International;
a company whose largest shareholder happens
to be a state-owned bank controlled by the
Japanese government.
Ivanka’s old company is still part of her
father’s company.
So if Abe were to put pressure on the bank
to finalize the Sanei deal, Trump would benefit
financially.
And even if Trump keeps Ivanka out of future
meetings with heads of state, they’ll still
have her husband, Jared Kushner’s ear.
Trump’s son-in-law will serve as a senior
advisor.
Vice President Mike Pence has tried to downplay
Trump’s conflicts of interest.
“If his kids are running the business, and
we’re talking about buildings here, if he
doesn't divest himself of the business, a
lot of people are saying turn it into cash,
he’s going to know who the kids are doing
business with.
In fact there was just a meeting in the last
few days with some of his partners form India.
Doesn't that create a tremendous danger of
a conflict of interest?”
“In a recent interview, after the election,
Donald Trump summed up his view of his business
life with two words.
He said, who cares?"
But his actions indicate that that he does
care.
After the election, Trump met with British
politician Nigel Farage.
During their meeting, Trump complained about
a proposed wind farm wrecking the view from
his golf course in Aberdeen Scotland.
Trump reportedly urged Farage to oppose the
proposal, and though nothing has happened
so far, Trump’s willingness to mix private
and political matters creates the impression
that he might be willing to trade political
favors for personal profit.
In Turkey, that seems to have happened already.
After Trump called for an American ban on
Muslims, Prime Minister Erdoğan demanded
that his name be removed from the Trump Towers
in Istanbul.
But when a military coup threatened Erdoğan’s
power, Trump expressed his support.
“That was a quick coup, I was actually surprised
to see how well it was handled.”
Erdoğan backed down, and Trump’s name remains
on the towers.
Since Trump refuses to disclose all of his
business dealings, we can’t know how many
others might exist.
But the one that looms largest is Russia.
A leaked intelligence report indicates that
Putin and the Russian government may have
compromising material on Trump.
But we don’t need unverified reports to
know that the relationship between the two
is odd.
Trump and Putin launching a mutual admiration
society of sorts.
Do you want to be complimented by that former
KGB officer?
Because Trump has refused to release his tax
returns, we don’t know if he owes money
to Russian oil billionaires close to Putin.
Molly McKew: “the discussion in intelligence
circles is that his behavior looks like someone
who maybe compromised, who may be concerned
about something, and nobody knows what that
is, if it’s financial ties or financial
leverage, something more than that, I don’t
know”
The only way for Trump to deal with all these
conflicts of interest is to sell his companies,
And then put someone besides his children
in charge of the financial proceeds.
Senate Democrats have introduced a bill that
would require Trump to do this
If this doesn’t happen, we’ll never really
know whether Trump is putting the American
people first, or his business interests.
