Donald Trump Leaving Businesses To Focus On Presidency — No More Conflicts Of Interest?
Hollywood Life reports that President-elect Donald Trump will quit his business interests to focus on the presidency.
Donald Trump will become president on January 20 2017.
“What a relief! Donald Trump has finally come out and admitted that he’s going be treating the presidency as a full-time job by stepping away from his businesses once he becomes POTUS Jan. 20.”
Trump revealed his plan to step down from his businesses in a series of tweets. He wrote that he is not required by law to step away from his business interests, but he will do so anyway.
Trump wrote that his sons Donald Junior and Eric will take over managing his businesses. Donald and Eric will be joined by some other executives.
The full text of Donald Trump’s tweets is below.
“Even though I am not mandated by law to do so, I will be leaving my businesses before January 20th so that I can focus full time on the Presidency. Two of my children, Don and Eric, plus executives, will manage them. No new deals will be done during my term(s) in office.”
Newsweek: Trump business conflicts open US to foreign blackmail https://t.co/fVq723myQl via @msnbc @maddow @MaddowBlog pic.twitter.com/B7sqOg86FO
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) December 13, 2016
Some have argued that Donald Trump has not really eliminated the conflicts of interest because close family members are still in charge of the businesses, and Donald Senior himself will presumably take the helm of the businesses again when he is no longer president.
Cash flow and other perks from the businesses will continue to benefit Trump throughout his presidency, and the fact that Don and Eric are in charge on paper does not really change anything, according to some Trump critics.
The Atlantic previously provided a “crib sheet” summary of Donald Trump’s conflicts of interest. The conflicts of interest were/are “unprecedented,” according to the report.
The Washington Post points out one striking example: Trump Towers Istanbul.
“[Turkey is] home to a valuable revenue stream for the president-elect’s business empire: Trump Towers Istanbul.”
The report claims that Trump has been paid $10 million since 2014 by the tower developers, in exchange for permission to use the Trump name on the tower.
Turkey is a “repressive regime,” according to the report, and it has a complicated relationship with both the U.S. and Russia. In 2015 when Turkey shot down one of Putin’s jets, the Russian leader warned that the Turks “will regret” their actions. Putin called Turkey’s action “an atrocious war crime,” according to Al jazeera.
Russia and the U.S. have both accused Turkey of aiding ISIS and buying oil from the terrorist group.
“[Putin] harshly criticised Turkey, accusing it of buying oil from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.”
Leaks by Wikileaks recently revealed that senior officials in the Turkish government are indeed benefiting from links with companies involved with ISIS-controlled oil fields, according to the Independent.
The Atlantic writes that Trump Towers Instanbul is “a private moneymaker that could open [Donald Trump] to foreign influence and tilt his decision-making as America’s executive in chief.”
A guide to Donald Trump's huge debts—and the conflicts they present. https://t.co/YZwBWFjdAC pic.twitter.com/WP9bG25woO
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) December 13, 2016
Trump’s presidential rival, Hillary Clinton, was also accused of holding conflicts of interest throughout her time as a New York senator, secretary of state, and First Lady.
Democracy Chronicles reports that Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton’s charity, the Clinton Foundation, received donations in 2014 from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman and other regimes.
This was apparently a source of anxiety to some Democrats before Hillary Clinton began her presidential campaign.
“[T]he influx of corporate and foreign money just before a potential Hillary Clinton campaign [caused] some anxiety within her party.”
Right-wing outlet Rebel Media claims that Saudi Arabia wrote a check for $25 million to the Clinton Foundation, and that the money was effectively a bribe meant to secure special treatment for the Saudis after Clinton became president.
“It was a $25 million down payment on a Clinton presidency.”
Clinton was ultimately bested by Donald Trump, who will become POTUS in just over a month.
Donald Trump has promised that he will not take any money from Saudi Arabia or allow himself to be bullied or bribed by unfriendly regimes.
Trump even got involved in a Twitter war with a Saudi prince, telling the man that he will no longer be able to use his “daddy’s money” to influence U.S. politics after Trump gets elected.
“Can’t do it when I get elected!”
Trump has also mocked current president Barack Obama for allowing the Saudis and Cubans to disrespect him personally. Trump claimed that when Obama arrives in Cuba and Saudi Arabia they do not even send a high-level official to greet him.
Trump sneered that this is an unacceptable way to treat the president of the United States.
The crowd went wild when Trump described what he would do if the Saudis or Cubans tried to treat him that way.
“I would be outta there so fast.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcQ92BC0WzI
[Featured Image By Andrew Harnik/AP Images]
