# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/61 "2016-11-22T00:53:36Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > He’s trying to get a rise out of someone. I doubt he cares who. So just a pathetic little puspot, then? Got it. ---
**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 22, 2016, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/62 "2016-11-22T02:02:02Z")
[Trump spokeswoman says Americans should ignore conflicts-of-interest, focus on Trump’s ‘sacrifice’](https://thinkprogress.org/trump-spokeswoman-says-americans-should-ignore-conflicts-of-interest-focus-on-trumps-sacrifice-b914533b77a1) > [@](#): > > Kellyanne Conway, a Senior Advisor to President-elect Trump, said people should focus less on Trump’s conflict-of-interest and more on the “sacrifice” he’s making to his business career by becoming president. > > Trump, however, doesn’t seem to be ready to sacrifice anything. > > At the tail-end of her interview on Fox & Friends Monday morning, host Brian Kilmeade asked Conway whether she agreed that the Trumps “have to work out where the business starts and the presidency starts.” Trump’s web of business investments, hotel properties and dealings with foreign investors “will create conflicts of interest of unprecedented magnitude,” according to an open letter from a group of open-government watchdogs. > > Conway waived off the concerns on Monday. > > “Oh well sure. But they are doing that…they have experts behind the scenes doing that, the adult children who already help him run that business and who obviously will be the stewards in their father’s absence are on top of that” Conway said. ---
**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 22, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/63 "2016-11-22T02:32:46Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > I have bigger concerns too, which is exactly why I’m HOPING the press, the public, the entire Democratic party, and sensible Republicans don’t let up on this… Exactly. I don’t care that Al Capote was eventually nabbed for tax evasion, instead of murder, assault, or racketeering. It got the cocksucker off the street. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/64 "2016-11-22T03:26:30Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Exactly. > > I don’t care that Al Capote was eventually nabbed for tax evasion, instead of murder, assault, or racketeering. It got the cocksucker off the street. I thought Al Capote was the author of Slugfest at Tiffanys. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/65 "2016-11-22T03:29:50Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Uh, I can think of several really, really obvious reasons. > > 1. It would be practically impossible to set up a true blind trust. A real blind trust involves complete liquidation or transfer of all assets into, you know a BLIND TRUST. Trump can’t do that with his brand. He’d have to sell everything to someone other than his children. > . He might not be in a position to sell due to liens, contractual obligations and partners. ---
**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 22, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/66 "2016-11-22T03:33:43Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > I thought Al Capote was the author of Slugfest at Tiffanys. Ha! Stupid autocorrect. Thanks, Trump. (Can I use that yet?) ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/67 "2016-11-22T03:42:09Z")
My opinion at the minute is that he will not make it far into a term. There is too much wrong here. He doesn’t seem to want the actual responsibilities, anyway. He never planned on committing himself to this and i’m sure he wants out. Why didn’t the media cover this in the runup so that we could have avoided this? Anyone could have seen this, but they were all shouted down by the whiners and partisans. They were simply cowed by ceaseless whining from completely faithless liars. ---
**Author:** ![AlienVessels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@AlienVessels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienVessels)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/68 "2016-11-22T04:00:42Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Let’s step back for a second. Trump is a multi billionaire. Don’t you think he already has not already been advised by the best lawyers as to how to remain within the four corners of the law and to make sure every i is dotted and every t crossed? I seriously doubt any action he or his kids take will be outside the letter of the law. > . Actually, the top tier lawyers make sure the law is bent around your actions. Or caught up in court until everyone dies. ---
**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 22, 2016, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/69 "2016-11-22T04:21:25Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Why didn’t the media cover this in the runup so that we could have avoided this? Because the media favors the Right, so it slanted its coverage heavily in Trump’s favor. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/70 "2016-11-22T04:33:12Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Let’s step back for a second. Trump is a multi billionaire. Don’t you think he already has not already been advised by the best lawyers as to how to remain within the four corners of the law and to make sure every i is dotted and every t crossed? I seriously doubt any action he or his kids take will be outside the letter of the law. > > The only remaining issue would be moral disapproval and as the campaign illustrated the President-elect cares deeply about that, just behind his famous regard for marital fidelity and personal space. Then explain why Trump admits to breaking the law every time he opens his mouth. In the matter of his assets he keeps saying that there will be a blind trust his kids will run while they participate in his administration. Not illegal to say this, but it doesn’t make any sense. It is saying “I am going to lie to you every time I want to, and I don’t even need to worry about veracity. That’s over. You think you’re going to check my powers?” ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/71 "2016-11-22T10:25:48Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Because the media favors the Right, so it slanted its coverage heavily in Trump’s favor. “The media” favors whoever draws eyeballs. Trump is a car crashing into a busload of nuns and orphans and puppies over and over and over again, and people will tune in to watch that. Frankly, the media would promote the Apocalypse if they thought they could get better ratings out of it. Let’s hope they haven’t already done so. ---
**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 22, 2016, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/72 "2016-11-22T10:34:46Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > “The media” favors whoever draws eyeballs. “The media” is a handful of giant corporations, and giant corporations are essentially by nature right wing. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/73 "2016-11-22T11:25:53Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > “The media” is a handful of giant corporations, and giant corporations are essentially by nature right wing. But they’d happily run 24-hour programming about gay unicorns if it made money for them. ---
**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 22, 2016, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/74 "2016-11-22T11:28:18Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > But they’d happily run 24-hour programming about gay unicorns if it made money for them. Only if they thought it wouldn’t hurt the Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2016, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/75 "2016-11-22T12:03:38Z")
> [@AlienVessels](#): > > Actually, the top tier lawyers make sure the law is bent around your actions. Or caught up in court until everyone dies. Pssst, Post 35. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/76 "2016-11-23T01:39:43Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > In the matter of his assets he keeps saying that there will be a blind trust his kids will run while they participate in his administration. Not illegal to say this, but it doesn’t make any sense. Even Republicans are pleading with Trump to give up this plan in favor of an _actual_ blind trust for liquidated assets, as [this article](http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/trumps-businesses-represent-an-impossible-conflict-of-interest) notes: > [@](#): > > The other option is for Trump to sell off his businesses and put the money raised into a bank account, U.S. Treasury bonds, or a genuinely blind trust, which wouldn’t inform him about what investments it had made. > > Late last week, a number of good-government groups and government-ethics lawyers issued a public letter that called on Trump to follow the latter course. […] > > Trump and his advisers will be tempted to shrug off these demands as the work of Democrats and other ill-wishers. They may have more difficulty in dismissing the views of the editorial board of the _Wall Street Journal_, a very influential voice in Republican circles. “Mr. Trump’s best option is to liquidate his stake in the company,” an editorial in the Journal said on Friday. And it went on: “If Mr. Trump doesn’t liquidate, he will be accused of a pecuniary motive any time he takes a policy position. . . . […] The presidential stakes are too high for Mr. Trump to let his family business become a daily political target.” > > That will be the reality facing Trump if he ignores the advice to liquidate his holdings […] My money says that **establishment Republicans are getting damn nervous at the prospect of a wealthy businessman openly and directly running American politics for his personal pecuniary gain**. Ever since the Gilded Age there has been a tacit understanding among wealthy conservatives that the fundamental purpose of politics is to benefit wealthy business interests. But that understanding is supposed to remain _tacit_. There has to be at least a thin veil of plausible deniability so they can claim that the upper-bracket tax cuts, deregulation, anti-labor tactics, etc. are really for the good of the country as a whole, and it’s just coincidence that they seem to end up benefiting the wealthy while the non-wealthy suffer. **Republicans are now afraid that Trump will tear down that veil and allow voters to see plainly how conservative policy objectives align with wealthy business interests.** Because then voters might start to be a little more skeptical about the next wealthy businessman who tries to persuade them that his policy proposals are for the good of the country as a whole, honest they are. ---
**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 23, 2016, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/77 "2016-11-23T02:01:00Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Even Republicans are pleading with Trump to give up this plan in favor of an _actual_ blind trust for liquidated assets, as [this article](http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/trumps-businesses-represent-an-impossible-conflict-of-interest) notes: > My money says that **establishment Republicans are getting damn nervous at the prospect of a wealthy businessman openly and directly running American politics for his personal pecuniary gain**. > > Ever since the Gilded Age there has been a tacit understanding among wealthy conservatives that the fundamental purpose of politics is to benefit wealthy business interests. But that understanding is supposed to remain _tacit_. There has to be at least a thin veil of plausible deniability so they can claim that the upper-bracket tax cuts, deregulation, anti-labor tactics, etc. are really for the good of the country as a whole, and it’s just coincidence that they seem to end up benefiting the wealthy while the non-wealthy suffer. > > **Republicans are now afraid that Trump will tear down that veil and allow voters to see plainly how conservative policy objectives align with wealthy business interests.** Because then voters might start to be a little more skeptical about the next wealthy businessman who tries to persuade them that his policy proposals are for the good of the country as a whole, honest they are. This could turn out to be a Very Good Thing. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/78 "2016-11-23T02:02:04Z")
If he had to liquidate, would that not, like, expose how much his businesses are \*really \*worth? ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/79 "2016-11-23T02:32:38Z")
In what fantasy world would a Republican-dominated Congress ever consider impeaching Donald Trump? Dream on, everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2016, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600/80 "2016-11-23T04:20:52Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > In what fantasy world would a Republican-dominated Congress ever consider impeaching Donald Trump? Dream on, everyone. I can see it, if Trump was an even bigger liar than we all knew he was and has absolutely no intention of fulfilling any of his campaign promises, indeed if he starts listening to Democrats and signalling he’ll veto legislation that doesn’t fit with blue-state New York’s interests. Meantime, Pence is cultivating friendships in Congress, leaving the impression he’d be the president congressional Republicans wanted in the first place… I’d frankly be quite surprised if congressional Republicans felt Trump was deserving of their personal loyalty just because he chose to run under their party’s banner. They’ll cosy up to him _now_, while he remains a governing unknown, but that can evaporate with ease. If congress stays red in 2018 and Trump’s popularity sours with the doofi that elected him, well… if I were Pence, I’d keep a bag packed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-trump-keep-his-business-interests-separate-from-the-presidency/772600.md?page=5)