Trump vows to put aside doubts over empire
NEW YORK: Donald Trump on Wednesday sought to head off criticism that his vast business empire poses an unprecedented conflict of interest for an incoming US president, even as he comes under attack for packing his cabinet with fellow billionaires.
In one of his trademark predawn tweetstorms, the Manhattan real estate mogul promised that he will reveal a plan next month to put aside his great business in total in order to fully focus on running the country.
The 70-year-old tycoon did not say who would take over his multibillion-dollar global property and luxury branding interests, but said his children would be present at a Dec 15 news conference.
He has previously said his daughter Ivanka and sons Eric and Donald Jr. could take day-to-day charge, but it remained unclear what he would do with his personal stake.
“While I am not mandated to do this under the law, I feel it is visually important, as president, to
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.
in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses,” he tweeted, seeking to get ahead of the burgeoning ethics controversy.
US law does not require Trump to give up his business portfolio, although the Constitution states no federal official can receive a gift or ‘emolument’ from a foreign government. Some previous presidents have placed their investments in a blind trust, but they were not required to do so and Trump has said since winning election in early November that his lawyers believe it unnecessary.
However, critics argue that it would be an unprecedented ethical conflict for Trump to maintain interest in properties spanning the globe — investments that rely partly on goodwill from foreign governments and regulators.
Even on home soil, his company has been attacked for marketing the new Trump International Hotel in Washington — just blocks from the White House — to foreign diplomats.
His new chief of staff, Reince Priebus, has insisted there are ‘smart ethics lawyers’ working on a plan to resolve this issue.
Trump has admitted the hotel’s brand is probably ‘hotter’ now that he is to be president, but has vaguely promised to ‘phase out’ his hands-on, check-signing role in Trump Organisation business.
Meanwhile, the Republican is building the cabinet team that will join him in the capital after his Jan 20 inauguration with a mission to ‘drain the swamp’ of Washington corruption.
So far, aside from former generals sidelined by President Barack Obama’s administration, Trump has focused on recruiting super-rich conservative figures from Wall Street and private business. On Tuesday, Trump dined at a Michelin-starred restaurant with Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor and private equity baron.
Although Romney’s own 2012 presidential campaign foundered partly because he was tagged as a member of an aloof elite, Trump is considering him as a possible secretary of state.
The latest figures Trump has nominated for senior roles — Wall Street veteran Steven Mnuchin and investor Wilbur Ross — are both billionaires and richer than Romney. Trump’s defeated Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, was attacked during the campaign for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars for giving private speeches to Goldman Sachs bankers. — AFP
Donald Trump, President-elect