Commentary

Tensions Between President Trump And Businessman Trump

What will the Trump Organization look like and how will it act during a Trump presidency?

To Julian Borger of The Guardian, “Trump comes to the presidency in the spirit of a tycoon making a new acquisition, overseeing the merger of Trump Inc and America Inc.”

This approach should be cause for alarm. The interests of the Trump Organization are in no way aligned with that of the American people.

It is hoped that Trump will not base his political decisions on what is best for his private wealth. The fear: If a small concession here or there creates a favorable outlook for a Trump real-estate development, it is not a stretch to assume Trump the businessman will triumph. Or, a foreign government may hire the Trump Organization as a "consultant" to curry favor with the Chief Exec.

We’ve seen evidence of this potential push and pull between Trump the president and Trump the businessman during the nascent transition period.

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His daughter Ivanka, who leads the Trump Organization’s development and acquisitions arm, was present when the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with the president-elect. Further, reports emerged that in a phone call with Argentine president Mauricio Marci, Trump brought up the development of Trump Tower in Buenos Aires.

Other questionable actions by the president-elect, ranging from subtle calls for foreign delegations to patronize his hotels to taking time out of his day for nonpolitical related photo ops, have alarmed the public.

According to various legal scholars and former White House lawyers, Donald Trump’s international business assets and relationships do pose a serious dilemma for the incoming president.

Even a former George W. Bush chief ethics counsel, Richard Painter, explains that Trump will have to “provide assurance to the Electoral College that he’s not himself going to be getting money from foreign governments that would violate the emoluments clause.”

In other words, he cannot be paid off or incentivized by members of other governments.

Unfortunately, this already seems to be happening.

Trump, who one assumes has people advising him about rules, doesn’t seem to be conversant on the potential for conflict. “As far as the potential conflict of interests, the law is totally on my side, meaning, the president can’t have a conflict of interest,” proclaimed Trump.

The fallout from such smug indifference to tradition and ethics could be considerable. Blind trusts are created for a reason -- to ensure that a president's dealings are done in good faith. That the people's business, not his personal gain, remains paramount.

Ironically, since the government is a nonprofit entity, a major rallying point for candidate Trump was his business success. Trump’s win is also a win for his brand, as well as a rejection of conventional politicians.

One thing is for certain: “The [Trump] brand is certainly a hotter brand than it was before,” as Trump told The New York Times last Wednesday.

5 comments about "Tensions Between President Trump And Businessman Trump".
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  1. Ford Kanzler from Marketing/PR Savvy, November 28, 2016 at 1:17 p.m.

    The prospects of being his own undoing seem rather evident. That is, if anyone with the power to change (GAO?) is watching.

  2. Steve Schiedermayer from Schiedermayer & Associates, Inc., November 28, 2016 at 1:25 p.m.

    Philip - do I detect a renewed appetite in conflict of interest? I don't remember anything from you on Hillary and the Clinton Foundation. Why? The foreign government comments are especially rich. To last week's musings, there is little wonder why Trump adds the direct-to-citizen media model. And while we're on it may I amend your headline from last week as well - to be more shocking and needed "Mainstream Media Needs to Recapture Its Non-Ideogically Driven Investigative Thread"? I had my heart checked recently and the doc said I could cardiologically-weather you writing something that didn't perfectly fit the usual "left is of course great and right is always detestable and suspect" narrow narrative.

  3. Uriah Av-Ron from Oasis Public Relations, November 28, 2016 at 2:13 p.m.

    Steve -- there is a big difference between the potential conflicts of interest that Hillary Clinton faced regarding the Clinton Foundation because the Clinton foundation is a non-profit organization providing charity. Donald Trump would stand to benefit financially benefit from the potential business dealings with Argentina and / or Japan.

  4. Paula Lynn from Who Else Unlimited, November 28, 2016 at 5:29 p.m.

    Dictator is more apt.

  5. Chuck Lantz from 2007ac.com, 2017ac.com network, November 28, 2016 at 6:51 p.m.

    So, you're telling me that I should just ignore the 25% off Cyber Monday sale that was just announced at DonaldJTrump.com??   Are you KIDDING?!  Those red Make America Great Again gold-plated Christmas tree ornaments, shaped like tiny hats,  are SO cute!

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