5 Trump business ties that pose conflicts
NEW YORK — After Ivanka Trump appeared on CBS’ “60 Minutes” wearing a $10,800 bracelet from her jewelry line, someone at her company sent photos from the interview to fashion writers to drum up free publicity.
Experts on government ethics are warning President-elect Donald Trump that he’ll never shake suspicions of a clash between his private interests and the public good if he doesn’t sell off his vast holdings, which include roughly 500 companies in more than a dozen countries.
In an interview with the New York Times on Tuesday, Trump insisted that the “law’s totally on my side,” and ethics experts agree that federal conflict-of-interest rules largely exempt the president from running his businesses the way he pleases while in office.
For use of the government-owned Old Post Office for his new Washington hotel, Trump agreed on annual rent to the government in a contract that was signed more than three years ago.
Trump’s extensive operations abroad raise the possibility that his foreign policy could be shaped by his business interests, and vice versa.