Donald Trump Already Cashing In On Presidency, Controversially Setting Up ‘Blind Trust’ With ‘One Eye Open’
Donald Trump is less than 72 hours removed from winning the highest office in the United States, and the New York billionaire is already making headlines for the controversial decisions he’s making surrounding who will help lead his transition team and his business “blind trust” once he assumes office.
The controversy behind both — as the Washington Post pointed out earlier on Friday — is that the brain trust behind the “blind trust” is also the same individuals being selected as executives for the transition team. Those individuals are Donald Trump’s children — Ivanka, Eric, and Donald, Jr. — who are simultaneously in charge of their father’s business affairs while helping him select individuals for key positions in the next presidential administration.
The 'blind trust' of Donald Trump's business is also running his transition team https://t.co/Cbw1TNhIpz
— kbc (@NTKRNow) November 12, 2016
The Trump children are violating the very purpose of what a “blind trust” is meant to serve, Meredith McGehee — a strategic adviser at the Campaign Legal Center — told the Washington Post on Friday. Donald Trump has placed his children both in charge of his multi-billion dollar business, as well as the financial regulators who can help those businesses grow faster, McGehee explained.
“The fact that they have been included as part of the transition team just shows how inappropriate their role in bridging the gap between him as a businessman and politician is. It’s a clear demonstration that there is no firewall between the two.”
Individuals skeptical after Thursday’s announcement about the “blind trust” were made even more so when Donald Trump added his children as part of his transition team executive committee. Meredith McGehee called the “blind trust” a “one-eye-closed-and-one-eye-open trust” because of the conflict of interest being demonstrated by the family.
CNBC has reported that Donald Trump has left his three children each in charge of their own division. Ivanka Trump would be in charge of the hotels, while Donald, Jr. would oversee the golf properties. Eric Trump would cultivate new developments and the winery, according to the article.
Political law expert Kenneth Gross at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom sees the “blind trust” argument Donald Trump makes differently. Not only will his children have conflicts of interest, but Donald — who will remain connected to his businesses through his children — will have several conflicts to resolves as well.
“Turning the business over to his kids will free up his time but it does nothing to resolve conflicts of interest. A creator of a blind trust is tagged with the knowledge of the assets put into the trust, and in terms of conflicts his children’s interests are co-extensive with his self interest.”
Donald Trump Has Blind Trust Issueshttps://t.co/0GE6Fm8d9m pic.twitter.com/nueeCgBEnU
— The National Memo (@NationalMemo) September 22, 2016
Politico first announced Donald Trump would place his three eldest children in charge of a “blind trust” on Thursday, according to the president-elect’s lawyer, Michael Cohen. Donald Trump feels comfortable with his children running the multi-billion dollar operation now, Cohen explained in the article.
“They’re really intelligent. They’re really qualified. That’s why he really didn’t run in 2012, because they were younger by four years. And they didn’t have, I guess, the experience, maturity that he felt he wanted to leave a $10 billion company to. Now he does. He’s very comfortable with them at the helm and the people that will surround them.”
Michael Cohen admitted the plan Donald Trump had produced for his children to run the company under a “blind trust” situation would not appease everyone. Yet while Donald Trump and his lawyer continued to use the term “blind trust” to describe the arrangement for his three children to oversee the company, Politico assessed that the term was technically misapplied.
“Under the legal definition of a blind trust, a public official places his finances under the management of an independent party. The official would have no knowledge of what is in the trust or how it is managed.”
What do you think about Donald Trump allowing his children to run a “blind trust” and serve on his transition team? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.
[Featured Image by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]
