CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AND FAMILY NEPOTISM, FAKE NEWS AND TELEPHONE DIPLOMACY

While the Media Circus swirled around Trump’s transition team and appointments, criticism intensified of Trump’s conflicts of interest. Trump’s initial response was that conflict-of-interest laws generally do not apply to the president, but critics continued to bring up laws and clauses in the constitution. Critics argue that if Trump does not divest his business interests, he would be at risk of violating the Constitution’s emoluments clause, which bars U.S. officeholders from taking anything of value from foreign governments. Trump continued into December and the new year in his refusal to release his tax returns and other relevant documents concerning his business interests which means that the public has a very incomplete picture of the scope of his interests, and possible involvement of foreign banks, oligarchs, and corporations that might hold blackmail power over Trump. While Constitutional lawyers and White House ethics counsellors from Democratic and Republican administrations warned Trump that his presidency might be blocked by the electoral college if he does not give up ownership of at least some of his business empire,101 Trump balked and bragged that “The brand is certainly a hotter brand than it was before,” and indeed it appeared that his election victory had been good for Trump’s businesses. Trump proclaimed that he was giving up his Organization to his children who would run them while he ran Washington. Critics pointed out that the Trump organization was a family company and that he and his children had worked together for years, so it was improbable that the kids would suddenly take over without dad playing a big league role in the family enterprises. Indeed, the Trump organization was already profiting from his ascendency to the presidency. Trump’s new Washington hotel was often half-full, even at steep discount prices, during the fall election season after it opened and it appeared that Trump was losing the election. Yet, following his surprise victory, foreign delegations have been booking the hotel for celebrations and business dealings, with top prices for

89 CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AND FAMILY NEPOTISM its rooms overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue for the inauguration on January 20. The conflict of interests whirling around the Trump International Hotel alone are staggering. Trump leases the Old Post Office Building site of his Washington hotel from the General Services Administration (GSA) which prohibits any elected official of the U.S. government from being part of the lease or deriving any profit from it. Yet Trump appoints the head of the GSA, and it is not beyond imagination to conjure that the new GSA head will have promised sweet-heart deals for the Trump organization as part of his job. As The Guardian points out: “Other government agencies also play a role in the hotel’s conflict- of-interest saga, such as the National Park Service, which recently took steps to help approve a tax subsidy worth up to $32 million for the Trump Organization. Last month, the National Labor Relations Board – an independent federal agency tasked with investigating unfair labor practices – ruled against the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas for refusing to bargain with the union representing much of its staff. Now, President-elect Trump will be tasked with appointing new members to the five-person oversight board. Immediately, that will mean filling two vacant seats that have been empty for most of the Obama years due to deep partisan divides over the role of the NLRB.” Since the election, there has been one story after another concerning how the Trump family and organization has already been cashing in on its victory, beginning with Ivanka Trump’s jewelry company using the family’s post-election interview appearance on “60 Minutes” to sell a $10,800 diamond and gold bangle which she wore in the interview. The Washington Post’s Editorial Board summed up early conflicts of interests in Trump’s activities right after the election: Then came the president-elect’s private meeting with three Indian business partners who are building a Trump-branded luxury complex in India. Mr. Trump’s newest hotel, on Pennsylvania Avenue, held a reception for foreign diplomats. As The Post’s Jonathan O’Connell and Mary Jordan reported, many diplomats duly took the hint that they should book rooms there to curry favor with the new administration. In his first meeting with British politicians, Mr. Trump urged them

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