# Will Trump Keep His Business Interests Separate from the Presidency? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 20, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600 "2016-11-20T22:35:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/1 "2016-11-20T22:35:06Z")
…and if he doesn’t will anyone care/stop him? My guess: no and no. [**All the President-Elect’s Conflicts of Interests**](http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/11/trump-conflict-of-interest/508265/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAtlantic+%28The+Atlantic+-+Master+Feed%29) > [@](#): > > The Trump team has been vague in its public descriptions of the meetings inside the tower. That includes a meeting that occurred Tuesday, one week after Trump won the presidential election in a surprise upset, and was first reported by Thursday by The Economic Times in India. Trump met with three Indian businessmen who are building a luxury apartment complex under the Trump brand near Mumbai. A picture posted on Twitter shows the group smiling with their fists in a thumbs-up. A spokeswoman for Trump told The New York Times on Saturday it “was not a formal meeting of any kind,” but the gathering renews concern about the potential conflicts of interests Trump will bring into the White House. Kalpesh Mehta, one of the businessmen, has been quoted in Indian media discussing projects with Trump that are underway. > > The meeting was the latest news since the election to prompt questions over how Trump will keep his business interests separate from his work as president. With Trump continuing to maintain close ties to his businesses, there is no way to know whether as president, he’ll act in the country’s interest, or his own. Thus far, the president-elect’s surrogates have dismissed any suggestion of potential impropriety or conflict of interest. > > On the same day of Trump’s meeting with the businessmen, the Trump International Hotel, which opened last month in Washington, D.C., hosted about 100 foreign diplomats for a tour intended to encourage future bookings for leaders from their countries. Some guests won raffle prizes, like overnight stays at Trump properties around the world, The Washington Post reported. Some diplomats told the Post that spending money at the hotel is “an easy, friendly gesture” to Trump, but others worried that doing so could give diplomats the appearance of trying to win favor with the president-elect. > > Two days later, Trump’s daughter Ivanka, who will take over running the family’s business in January, joined her father at his meeting with Shinzo Abe, the prime minister of Japan. Reporters weren’t allowed to attend, and no summary of the meeting—Trump’s first with a foreign head of state—was provided. Top Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway described it as a “much more informal meeting,” with matters of policy left for after the inauguration… It was the Republicans who raised all kinds of holy hell because some foreign businessmen “gained access” to Hillary Clinton with donations to the Clinton Foundation even though it was shown these guys didn’t actually get anything \*\*except \*\*her presence at dinners/speeches (which no doubt brought in other paying attendees–I’ve given plenty of luncheons, and that’s how you fill the tables: with a high profile guest of honor). She was Secretary of State, not even the President, and she got raked over the coals for this. :rolleyes: There will be no way to keep Donald Trump from continuing to run his businesses (with the phony front that his kids are doing it) and make money. Even more money after he becomes privy to details that only the top echelons of government are privileged to know. Why else would past Presidents put their assets in a blind trust–so they could not profit from their insider knowledge. Trump will do things his way, because he doesn’t follow rules, or even conventions, no one can tell him what to do, and there isn’t a pair of gonads among the Republican leadership that can stop him. And he will continue to do his best to keep the press from knowing what he’s up to. [Spare me the references to Obama’s poor relationship with the press–that’s 1) old news and 2) false equivalency.] ---
**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 20, 2016, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/2 "2016-11-20T22:51:35Z")
Nope. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/3 "2016-11-20T23:27:51Z")
No. Not even a chance. This will end up being the flavor that his downfall takes. ---
**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 20, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/4 "2016-11-20T23:35:23Z")
Nyet. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/5 "2016-11-20T23:36:29Z")
I don’t see why anyone would even expect him to. Previous Presidents have been politicians- they’ve spent decades plying their trade, learning how to work within and without the system. As such, when they became President, they kept on being politicians- arguably serving the citizenry. Trump, on the other hand, is a businessman. Furthermore, he’s a _seventy-year-old_ businessman. Business is all he knows, and it’s too late in life for him to learn how to comport himself as a politician. All he knows is how to make business work\* for him\*. Anyone who elected him expecting him to somehow “fix” government is deluded. He’s only going to fix it for _himself_. ---
**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 20, 2016, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/6 "2016-11-20T23:36:41Z")
**Will Trump Keep His Business Interests Separate from the Presidency?** Ha ha ha ha! No. In fact, he won’t even make a pretense of keeping his interests separate from the presidency. They whole point of being president as far as Trump is concerned is so that he can personally make a shit-load of money. > [@](#): > > …and if he doesn’t will anyone care/stop him? Again, not a chance in hell. The Republican politicians are either craven cowards, or they hope to use a Trump presidency to get what they feel are the Most Important Things In The World: 1. Power/money for themselves 2. Tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations 3. Prevention of minority votes 4. Ensuring that gays are persecuted and harrassed because that is God’s Will. 5. Removing healthcare from poor people, who don’t deserve to get medical care because they are lazy and shiftless. > [@](#): > > It was the Republicans who raised all kinds of holy hell because some foreign businessmen “gained access” to Hillary Clinton with donations to the Clinton Foundation even though it was shown these guys didn’t actually get anything except her presence at dinners/speeches (which no doubt brought in other paying attendees As you know, the WHOLE POINT of raising holy hell about the Clinton Foundation was to win the election. Also, it’s bad when a Democrat does it - It is justified when a Republican does the same… or worse. These people have no moral core at all. None whatsoever. They will be quite happy to let Trump enrich himself at the expense of the country. They literally don’t give a shit, as long as they can get their hateful agenda passed. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/7 "2016-11-20T23:38:02Z")
It’s all just business, baby - that IS what made America great. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/8 "2016-11-20T23:43:42Z")
> [@](#): > > Donald Trump’s soon-to-be chief of staff, Reince Priebus, said Sunday that the incoming White House counsel will be tasked with making sure there are no conflicts of interest with the real estate mogul’s business empire. > **[Priebus: Trump’s White House counsel will ensure no conflicts of interest |...](https://www.cnn.com/2016/11/20/politics/trump-business-conflicts-reince-priebus/)** > > Donald Trump’s soon-to-be chief of staff, Reince Priebus, said Sunday that the incoming White House counsel will be tasked with making sure there are no conflicts of interest with the real estate mogul’s business empire. Surely everyone believes him? ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/9 "2016-11-20T23:53:29Z")
This is why I don’t believe it when people say “oh, Trump will just sign anything put in front of him because he doesn’t care”. He’ll sign anything AFTER he’s been sufficiently bribed by the Republican establishment with Trump Corporation contracts. So the question is, how much will/can he soak them for (and by ‘them’, I really mean ‘you’, sorry, because it’s you guys’ money that’s going to pay for it) before everyone gets sick of him ---
**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 20, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/10 "2016-11-20T23:58:15Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > This is why I don’t believe it when people say “oh, Trump will just sign anything put in front of him because he doesn’t care”. \*\*He’ll sign anything AFTER he’s been sufficiently bribed by the Republican establishment with Trump Corporation contracts. > \*\* > So the question is, how much will/can he soak them for (and by ‘them’, I really mean ‘you’, sorry, because it’s you guys’ money that’s going to pay for it) before everyone gets sick of him What do you think his infrastructure plan is for? I’m sure that among the 500+ companies he has his name on, there’s bound to be some construction companies. ETA; there’s also this. [Trump leases his D.C. hotel from a government agency he’ll soon be in charge of](https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/11/15/trump-needs-to-give-up-his-trump-hotel-lease-right-now/?utm_term=.f0b07f074e54) > [@](#): > > In 2013, the General Services Administration leased Washington’s historic Post Office Pavilion to the Trump Organization for $180 million. Before his inauguration on Jan. 20, the GSA must terminate the Organization’s lease. The 60-year deal presents unprecedented and intolerable conflicts of interest. Swift action by GSA is necessary to protect the integrity of the federal government contracting process. > > The Post Office Pavilion lease is between GSA — whose administrator President-Elect Trump will appoint — and Trump’s company. It’s a casebook example of both the appearance of a significant conflict of interest and an intolerable intermingling of Trump’s official governmental duties and his and his family’s personal financial interests. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/11 "2016-11-21T00:13:26Z")
Of course he won’t, and of course no one will stop him. I’ve been chided in another thread for suggesting he would continue doing what he’s been doing his entire business life after he’s sworn in. ---
**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 21, 2016, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/12 "2016-11-21T00:30:10Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > …ETA; there’s also this. > [Trump leases his D.C. hotel from a government agency he’ll soon be in charge of](https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/11/15/trump-needs-to-give-up-his-trump-hotel-lease-right-now/?utm_term=.f0b07f074e54) And don’t forget about [this](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/2016/11/18/9da9c572-ad18-11e6-977a-1030f822fc35_story.html). Admittedly the hotel would be heavily marketed to the diplomatic community even if Trump lost, but it’s still highly problematic. ---
**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 21, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/13 "2016-11-21T00:34:25Z")
Will Trump Keep His Business Interests Separate from the Presidency? No. > [@ThelmaLou](#): > > …and if he doesn’t will anyone care/stop him? Care? Yes. Stop him? No. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/14 "2016-11-21T00:36:07Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > What do you think his infrastructure plan is for? I’m sure that among the 500+ companies he has his name on, there’s bound to be some construction companies. > … Talked about here: [**“Trump’s big infrastructure plan? It’s a trap.”**](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-big-infrastructure-plan-its-a-trap/2016/11/18/5b1d109c-adae-11e6-8b45-f8e493f06fcd_story.html?utm_term=.587c85c53944) > [@](#): > > _By Ronald A. Klain November 18 > Ronald A. Klain served as assistant to President Obama and oversaw the team implementing the American Recovery and Renewal Act from 2009-2011. He was an adviser to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 campaign. The views expressed here are solely his own._ > > As the White House official responsible for overseeing implementation of President Obama’s massive infrastructure initiative, the 2009 Recovery Act, I’ve got a simple message for Democrats who are embracing President-elect Donald Trump’s infrastructure plan: Don’t do it. It’s a trap. Backing Trump’s plan is a mistake in policy and political judgment they will regret, as did their Democratic predecessors who voted for Ronald Reagan’s tax cuts in 1981 and George W. Bush’s cuts in 2001. > > First, Trump’s plan is not really an infrastructure plan. It’s a tax-cut plan for utility-industry and construction-sector investors, and a massive corporate welfare plan for contractors. The Trump plan doesn’t directly fund new roads, bridges, water systems or airports, as did Hillary Clinton’s 2016 infrastructure proposal. Instead, Trump’s plan provides tax breaks to private-sector investors who back profitable construction projects… ---
**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 21, 2016, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/15 "2016-11-21T00:37:43Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > And don’t forget about [this](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/2016/11/18/9da9c572-ad18-11e6-977a-1030f822fc35_story.html). Admittedly the hotel would be heavily marketed to the diplomatic community even if Trump lost, but it’s still highly problematic. [Labor Board Sides With Trump Hotel Workers In Union Battle](https://thinkprogress.org/labor-board-sides-with-trump-hotel-workers-in-union-battle-be091f046f5c) > [@](#): > > Just days before Nevada’s Republican presidential caucus, a federal labor official weighed in on the ongoing dispute between Donald Trump’s signature luxury Las Vegas hotel and the hundreds of workers who voted in December to unionize. Trump Hotel management had asked the National Labor Relations Board to throw out the results of that election, claiming that organizers from the Culinary Workers Union intimidated and coerced employees into voting yes, which “interfered with their ability to exercise a free and reasoned choice.” But after weeks of reviewing the evidence, the labor board did not agree. > > Hearing Officer Lisa Dunn announced: “I recommend that the Employer’s objections be overruled in their entirety.” [Trump will remake agency that ruled against his Vegas hotel](http://money.cnn.com/2016/11/17/news/companies/trump-hotel-labor-dispute/index.html?iid=hp-grid-dom) > [@](#): > > A Las Vegas hotel owned by President-elect Donald Trump is locked in a battle with the federal agency charged with enforcing the nation’s labor laws. > > The problem: As President, Trump will soon appoint three of its five members. > > The issue before the National Labor Relations Board is whether the Trump International Hotel must negotiate with Unite Here, a coalition of the Culinary Workers union and Bartenders union. The employees, in a 238 to 209 vote last year, said they want to be represented by the group. > > Despite that, Trump’s hotel management has refused to recognize the union, charging that employees were intimidated into voting Yes. The labor board heard the hotel’s complaints and rejected them in a November 3 ruling. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/16 "2016-11-21T00:53:20Z")
Rant. Pit. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/17 "2016-11-21T01:11:09Z")
Wait… hang on, I wasn’t ready. Okay, go. _\_ **Will Trump Keep His Business Interests Separate from the Presidency?** _\_ ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/18 "2016-11-21T02:10:53Z")
Easy one – nope. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/19 "2016-11-21T02:24:11Z")
No, he’ll funnel billions of dollars into his pockets. I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up the richest man in the world, he’ll steal so much. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/20 "2016-11-21T03:34:29Z")
Maybe he’ll buy the President’s Choice company so I can enjoy some Trumpy Chocolate Chip Cookies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600.md?page=2)