Only Trump Knows If He Kept His Promise To Separate Himself From His Business

When Trump became president, he made 19 promises to ensure he separated himself from his business. Two years later, the status of more than half of those promises are unknown, and Americans can only take Trump at his word — and we all know how much that’s worth.

 

If Trump has not fully separated himself from his business, anyone could funnel cash into Trump’s pockets in an effort to sway decisions made at the highest levels of government in their favor.

Former OGE Director Walter Shaub: “We have a situation now where people who seek to influence the government can funnel bags of cash to the president through his various properties.”

Forbes: “President Trump sold a $2.9 million New York City condo to a mysterious buyer March 8, in a previously unreported deal laid out in public documents. Officially, the buyer was an entity named Koctagon LLC. Limited liability companies, or LLCs, are often used to shield the identities of people purchasing real estate. When Trump is involved, they can make it difficult to see who is paying millions to the president of the United States.”

 

Trump said he would prohibit his company from entering new contracts with foreign entities, but those type of contracts have continued to come in, and his company even sought to restart a long-shuttered foreign deal.

USA Today: “The Trust Agreement prohibits The Trump Organization from entering into any new transaction or contract with a foreign country, agency, or instrumentality thereof, including a sovereign wealth fund, foreign government official, or member of a royal family, the United States government or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or any state or local government or any agency or instrumentality thereof, other than normal and customary arrangements already undertaken before the President-Elect’s election.”

McClatchy: “A major construction company owned by the Chinese government was awarded another contract this week to work on the Trump golf club development in Dubai, further raising questions about potential conflicts of interest between Donald Trump’s presidency and his vast real estate empire.”

Associated Press: “The Trump Organization is returning to a long-dormant licensing deal involving a beachfront luxury resort in the Dominican Republic, testing the limits of Donald Trump’s pledge to halt new international Trump-branded projects during his presidency.”

 

The American people have no way of knowing the extent to which Trump discusses his business or government decisions with his sons, who now run the Trump Organization, but Eric himself said, “My father and I are very close … I talk to him a lot.”

USA Today: “[T]he Trust Agreement will sharply limit the information that the President-Elect receives regarding the Trust’s assets. Reports transmitted to the President-Elect will only reflect the profit or loss of the Company as a whole … Conversely, the President-Elect will not share nonpublic information with The Trump Organization or the Trust, and the Trust will not make use of any nonpublic information, from any governmental source, to engage in financial transactions on the Company’s behalf.”

Forbes: “One thing is clear: ‘My father and I are very close,’ Eric Trump says. ‘I talk to him a lot. We’re pretty inseparable.’”

Taking Trump at his word is a tall task to ask of anyone: As president, Trump has told more than 9,100 false or misleading claims so far.

Washington Post: “In 787 days, President Trump has made 9,179 false or misleading claims”

Former OGE Director Walter Shaub: “In some ways, it’s like a bank robber saying from now on I will only wear a blue shirt and yellow tennis shoes when I rob banks, and then analyzing whether he did that when he robbed banks.”