• by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, November 28, 2016

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.

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.