Donald Trump's Conflicts of Interest: A Crib Sheet
Since his election, an ever-increasing level of attention has been paid to the unprecedented conflicts of interest that President-elect Donald J. Trump seems likely to bring with him when he assumes office. His responses to the concerns have been varied and, at times, contradictory. His first statement on the subject, which came via Twitter, suggested that he would make little effort to avoid entangling his business and his office, and would instead attack those who point that out:
Prior to the election it was well known that I have interests in properties all over the world.Only the crooked media makes this a big deal!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2016
A few days later, in a conference with the editorial staff of The New York Times, he appeared similarly defiant, asserting, “The law’s totally on my side, the president can’t have a conflict of interest.”
The president-elect’s public stance since the election has been inconsistent at best and contradictory at worst. In an early-morning tweetstorm on November 30, Trump announced that he would be “holding a major news conference” on December 15 about a plan “being crafted which take[s] me completely out of business operations,” although he stressed again that he is “not mandated to do this under the law.” As the date approached, his spokeswoman announced that he would be delaying the press conference until January. Soon after, Monica Langley of The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump Organization will not be selling off its global real-estate holdings; instead, Trump will be stepping down from his leadership role in his business empire and leaving it to his adult sons. However, as long as the president-elect retains a financial stake in the company, the move does not mitigate his many conflicts of interest. As such, several Senate Democrats, led by Elizabeth Warren, have drafted legislation aimed at forcing Trump to divest or face impeachment.
So far, the only indication that Trump may actually be distancing himself from his financial holdings is that, on December 6, Trump and his spokesman Jason Miller announced that Trump had sold off his stocks in June. However, neither provided any evidence of the sale, and considering the president-elect’s history of questionable or downright false statements regarding his finances—see, for example, David Fahrenthold’s months-long, exhaustive debunking of Trump’s claims regarding his charitable giving and namesake foundation—the claim remains suspect. Until proof of the transaction has been established, such as by releasing broker records, this article will proceed based on his FEC filings, which remain the most recent documentation of his financial holdings.
Central to the discussion is that, as Trump has repeatedly pointed out, the president and vice president are exempt from the Office of Government Ethics’ rules preventing conflicts of interest within the executive branch. More recently, attention has shifted to the Emoluments Clause, a relatively obscure section of the Constitution barring the chief executive from receiving gifts from foreign governments, which numerous experts say Trump might violate if his properties receive preferential treatment from other world leaders. However, case law on the clause’s possible application is sparse.
At any rate, legality does not imply propriety. Unless Trump acts to put appropriate distance between himself and his business ventures, these questions are likely to continue throughout his time in the Oval Office. Below is an attempt to catalogue the more clear-cut examples of conflicts of interest that have emerged so far; the most recent entries appear at the top.
- That Virginia Vineyard
- That Las Vegas Labor Dispute
- That Kuwaiti Event
- Those Certificates of Divestiture
- That Carrier Deal
- That Blind-Trust Issue
- Those Fannie and Freddie Investments
- That Phone Call With Taiwan
- That Deutsche Bank Debt
- That Secret Service Detail
- That Property in Georgia (the Country)
- That Phone Call With Erdogan
- That Hotel in Washington, D.C.
- That Argentinian Office Building
- Those Companies in Saudi Arabia
- That British Wind Farm
- Those Indian Business Partners
- That Envoy From the Philippines
That Virginia Vineyard
Among the dozens of properties President-elect Donald Trump owns is Trump Vineyard Estates and Winery in Charlottesville, Virginia, the source of his namesake wine. Since Trump was elected, the property has requested temporary H-2A visas for six foreign workers, . The visas, , allow businesses to temporarily hire foreign, unskilled workers provided that the employer proves that there are not enough domestic candidates to fulfill a one-time or seasonal shortage and that the hiring will not depress wages for U.S.-born employees. Trump, of course, will be in charge of appointing a new Secretary of Homeland Security once he assumes the presidency, which gives Trump authority over the very department, leaving open the question of how much influence Trump himself will have over the DHS’s policy on the matter.
