# What happens to the Trump Organization now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 9, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248 "2016-11-09T18:36:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248/21 "2016-11-12T00:18:47Z")
Whenever the subject of Trump’s business interests comes up, a majority of people conveniently overlook the fact that a lot of his assets are in real estate. Now sure, you CAN put stuff like that into a blind trust–but it won’t have much practical effect. Some people seem to be under the impression that if Trump puts his assets into a trust, the mere act of doing so will somehow magically make him forget what pieces of property he owns. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248/22 "2016-11-12T00:23:58Z")
Presumably if he ever _does_ forget which properties he owns, the four-foot-high letters spelling out his name on the side of the buildings will remind him. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248/23 "2016-11-12T05:32:12Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Whenever the subject of Trump’s business interests comes up, a majority of people conveniently overlook the fact that a lot of his assets are in real estate. Now sure, you CAN put stuff like that into a blind trust–but it won’t have much practical effect. Some people seem to be under the impression that if Trump puts his assets into a trust, the mere act of doing so will somehow magically make him forget what pieces of property he owns. Trump’s attorney announced that he will be putting his financial interests in a blind trust to be administered by three of his children. That’s not what a “blind trust” is. Today it was announced that those three children will also be serving on Trump’s transition team. That’s really not what a “blind trust” is. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248/24 "2016-11-12T05:39:55Z")
As noted, a blind trust is nonsense in Trump’s situation., where the assets are obvious and the managers are his kids. What we should expect is lots of fodder for conflict of interest. The media hates Trump and this will likely be one source they heavily mine for one of Trump’s many, many scandals. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248/25 "2016-11-12T05:43:40Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > As noted, a blind trust is nonsense in Trump’s situation., where the assets are obvious and the managers are his kids. What we should expect is lots of fodder for conflict of interest. The media hates Trump and this will likely be one source they heavily mine for one of Trump’s many, many scandals. What a load of crap-If the media actually hated Trump they wouldn’t have given him all that free press. The media could have buried Trump if they actually hated him. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248/26 "2016-11-12T05:59:08Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > What a load of crap-If the media actually hated Trump they wouldn’t have given him all that free press. The media could have buried Trump if they actually hated him. I predict their interest in promoting Trump as a prime source of news ratings will morph into an obsession with Trump scandal once he takes office. That will be exacerbated by his efforts to resist their access. People thought that Clinton was obsessed with privacy? A narcissist egomaniac with Brietbart as his publicity arm is going to be miles worse, and the 4th estate will push back with floods of FOIA requests and lengthy exposes on his questionable practices. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248/27 "2016-11-12T06:05:08Z")
From a concurrent Pit thread: > [@Let the corruption begin](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-the-corruption-begin/771549/9): > > It is called Conflict Of Interest. There are also strict Ethics regulations and laws. “Mere mortals” can be sent to prison for it. But it’s been proven over many years that our new Dear Leader has no ethics at all. Which ethics regulations and laws apply here? What Conflict of Interest laws? I’ve asked **SteveG1** to join us here, but does anyone else know specifically which regulations and/or laws apply here? Because so far, most people are saying there are no laws that apply. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248/28 "2016-11-12T17:27:11Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > I predict their interest in promoting Trump as a prime source of news ratings will morph into an obsession with Trump scandal once he takes office. That will be exacerbated by his efforts to resist their access. People thought that Clinton was obsessed with privacy? A narcissist egomaniac with Brietbart as his publicity arm is going to be miles worse, and the 4th estate will push back with floods of FOIA requests and lengthy exposes on his questionable practices. It’s well known that Trump doesn’t do email and doesn’t even have a computer at his desk. Other than his smartphone for the public tweets, he does everything through phone calls or by messengers delivering either verbal or written messages. FOIA? Phooey! ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248/29 "2016-11-12T18:03:46Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > But that’s okay, because it’s going to be a “blind trust”. With the most perfect vision - Bigly vision, much much better than a regular blind trust. The best blind trust, I promise… ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248/30 "2016-11-12T18:11:02Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Trump’s attorney announced that he will be putting his financial interests in a blind trust to be administered by three of his children. > > That’s not what a “blind trust” is. > > Today it was announced that those three children will also be serving on Trump’s transition team. > > That’s really not what a “blind trust” is. As Trump has aptly demonstrated, the facts don’t mean anything. This is basically what a Coen Brothers political thriller would look like. [Here](http://www.wsj.com/articles/why-donald-trump-as-president-wouldnt-face-conflict-of-interest-laws-1467648595) is a brief article in the _Wall Street Journal_ explaining why there is really no limit on Trump using his position as president to influence his business interests. Unlike normal Federal employees, the president is not restricted from maintaining outside interests specifically so that this does not limit the executive authority of his power. Use of that power to the benefit of the nation is largely an exercise of trust, something that neither major party candidate was in particularly good standing, but Trump is an outright fraud. There is one particular issue that may come back to cause Trump significant legal problems; it is clear that Russia made significant efforts to manipulate the US election, most notably in the hacking of the DNC and DCCC servers and releasing that information. If it comes to light that there was collusion or conspiracy in by Trump in making this happen, it would be grounds for espionage as well as politically devastating. Given the presumption that the GOP would like nothing better than a viable excuse to turn sentiment against Trump and dump it, it is about the only thing at this point that would be an avenue toward impeachment. However, there does not appear to be any supporting evidence, and Putin has his own interest in skewing the election without having to be spurred by Trump. But just the reality that Russia engaged in this kind of political espionage may be enough to case considerable doubt on the integrity of any relationship Trump wants to build with Putin. The question remains about how many people will care; this campaign has made clear how little many people care about blatantly unethical behavior and bombastic, unworkable “policies”, as long as it all sounds good. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248/31 "2016-11-12T23:17:35Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Trump’s attorney announced that he will be putting his financial interests in a blind trust to be administered by three of his children. > > That’s not what a “blind trust” is. > > Today it was announced that those three children will also be serving on Trump’s transition team. > > That’s really not what a “blind trust” is. They SAY it’s a blind trust, so therefore it is. It’s only the Media and the Elites, together with those criminal democrats who disagree. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248/32 "2016-11-13T05:00:10Z")
[http://www.dod.mil/dodgc/defense\_ethics/dod\_oge/comp\_fed\_ethics\_laws.pdf](http://www.dod.mil/dodgc/defense_ethics/dod_oge/comp_fed_ethics_laws.pdf) The federal ethics laws, in all their glory Unfortunately [http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/us/politics/how-federal-ethics-laws-will-apply-to-a-trump-presidency.html?\_r=0](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/12/us/politics/how-federal-ethics-laws-will-apply-to-a-trump-presidency.html?_r=0) > [@](#): > > Over the next few weeks, Donald J. Trump will be deep in the throes of selecting cabinet members, reviewing potential Supreme Court justices and deciding on the top priorities for his new administration. > > In the middle of all that, he or his companies will be running golf courses in several states, managing apartment buildings in New York City and tending to properties all over the world. They will also be fighting a fraud lawsuit in San Diego, going to court against two chefs in Washington and continuing a long legal fight in Florida over airliners flying above his Palm Beach resort. > > A theme of Mr. Trump’s presidency is likely to be the clash of his duties running the country with the remnants of his decades as a hard-charging businessman. But federal rules and precedent make a couple of things clear. > > Mr. Trump will have no immunity from lawsuits involving his corporate ventures, thanks to a Supreme Court ruling involving Paula Jones, one of President Bill Clinton’s accusers. And nothing will stop Mr. Trump’s family from continuing to run its vast international web of businesses. Federal ethics laws and conflict-of-interest statutes that apply to other federal employees and cabinet members do not apply to the president. > … > Under federal laws, executive branch employees must comply with conflict-of-interest rules that guard against being influenced by personal investments, and they must curb payments from sources outside the government. As a result, employees may have to recuse themselves from working on matters where they may have conflicts, holding certain properties or accepting money. For example, when Henry Paulson, the former Goldman Sachs executive, became Treasury secretary in 2006, he pledged to sell about $470 million in company stock to comply with conflict-of-interest rules. > > But the president and vice president were exempted from such laws, on the theory that they needed to be able to carry out their constitutional duties without restraint. So President Trump will be able to take actions pertaining to another country even if he has business interests there. > > Federal laws like those against bribery and receiving benefits from foreign countries still apply to the president. Enforcement would fall to the Justice Department or to Congress, which could pursue criminal or impeachment proceedings if evidence suggests laws were broken. > > Mr. Trump will be required next year to file an updated personal financial disclosure listing his holdings, similar to the forms he has filed the past couple of years as a candidate. But Mr. Trump will not be required to make public his income tax returns, which he declined to do during the campaign, citing a continuing audit by the Internal Revenue Service, an agency he will now control. If he did release them, the tax returns could provide transparency into his international business dealings and other potential conflicts that may arise. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248/33 "2016-11-13T05:27:19Z")
Excellent post **SteveG1** ; thank you for joining this discussion. So it seems that legally, Mr. Trump could actually continue to run the Trump Organization if he chose to. I did not know that the POTUS and VPOTUS were exempted like that. I think we should ask Congress to close those loopholes at the first opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248/34 "2016-11-13T07:25:22Z")
I wonder what happens to Trump _Tower_; especially if Trump really does keep it has his primary residence? The Secret Service is already upping security on it (& the FAA’s declared a no fly zone), but at the end of the date it’s still a public building with hundreds of residential, office, & retail tenants. Unless they evict everyone not connected to the Trumps they’ll never have anywhere near as much control over they of the White House. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248/35 "2016-11-13T07:29:34Z")
I wonder: what would the public think of a President who didn’t live in the White House? ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248/36 "2016-11-13T07:31:12Z")
My guess is that nobody will think anything they don’t already thing of him. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248/37 "2016-11-13T07:59:41Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I wonder: what would the public think of a President who didn’t live in the White House? A more specific question would be what the public would think about a President who constantly flies back and forth on the public’s dime. He couldn’t possibly sleep at the White House, what with all the renovations underway… ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248/38 "2016-11-13T12:16:52Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > A more specific question would be what the public would think about a President who constantly flies back and forth on the public’s dime. > > He couldn’t possibly sleep at the White House, what with all the renovations underway… Obama is criticized for even one vacation because of the cost but Trump… ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248/39 "2016-11-13T12:23:00Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I wonder: what would the public think of a President who didn’t live in the White House? Lock her up! Lock her up! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-to-the-trump-organization-now/771248.md?page=1)