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President Donald Trump's Business Interests

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President Donald Trump’s Business Interests
Donald Trump is one of the wealthiest Presidents to be sitting in the oval office. His Limited Liability Company, The Trump organization has business operations throughout the world. Presidents Trump listed roughly 500 companies (some operational, some defunct) on his latest FEC filing (Wang). Trump’s biggest presence are in the golf and hotel industry. Since the beginning of the presidential campaign, many ethic experts believe his extensive global business operations may result in the corruption of the White House, fearing that is financial interest may influence his foreign and domestic policies. Trump, stated he has distanced himself from his company by giving control over to his children. However,
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In a Forbes article “Why Trump Won’t Use A Blind Trust And What His Predecessors Did With Their Assets”, by Jennifer Wang, Leslie Kiernan a partner at the law firm Akin Gump and a former Deputy White House Counsel under President Barack Obama, stated that for a blind trust actually to be “blind” the assets have to be liquidated first. The cash is then transferred into a trust, managed by an independent trustee approved by the Office of Government Ethics. (Wang). President Donald Trump’s children would not qualify as independent trustees. An independent trustee would not be allowed to communicate with the trustor relating to any financial matters (Investopedia). President Donald Trump’s claim that he has distanced himself from his business interest falls short as his family has been active during his campaign and continues to be active in his administration. It is unlikely that Trump’s family will keep from discussing his businesses with him, especially when they have been granted top security…show more content…
Due to Trump lacking to create a true blind trust, he is at risk of violating the Emoluments Clause, which prevents government officials from receiving foreign gifts. Receiving emolument by foreign diplomats in the form of hotel and office building payments or foreign governments granting permits such as trademarks could give foreign governments leverage over Trump. Those who defend Trump’s action claim that the President is not violating the constitution because payments made to his hotels or office buildings go to the Trump Organization, a separate corporate entity. Although payments by foreign governments do go to the Trump Organization, never the less they financially benefit President Donald Trump as he is the owner of the Trump Organization. There is not enough evidence to impeach President Donald for violating the Emolument Clause as his financial interest have yet to materialize if any exist, but his recent actions are putting him at high risk of violating the
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