Why the President Should Not Totally Divest All Financial Interest

Why the President should not totally divest all financial interest in the 'Trump Brand' in its many commercial forms.

 Joshua Wedmore

Bellevue University

MBA615 – Human Capital and Organizational Performance

Introduction

The President holds the highest and most respected position in the United States of America and as every President before him, Donald Trump had a life that included being financially compensated for his work. Not every President has a background as a very successful business executive; they have come from all walks of life to include anything from military generals, lawyers, teachers and even movie actors. However, one thing they all do have in common is a brand associated with their name in their respected fields they were active in.

Reasons for not divesting

President Trump entered the office with a very impressive amount of money and a just as impressive amount of businesses all associated with his family brand “Trump”. President Trump got his start in real estate and quickly became one of the biggest real estate moguls in the world thanks to his ability to make lucrative deals. He has gone to sell some of the most expensive properties in the U.S. and has international properties that can be found in Canada, Turkey, Panama, South Korea, the Philippines, India, and Uruguay. He also owns ultra-luxury hotels and some of the most historic golf courses in the world. He also is the acting chairman and president of The Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. Additionally, his organization owns companies like Sentient Jets, LLC and Trump Productions, LLC. However, you cannot mention all of his business adventures without mentioning a few that weren’t as successful such as his Casino Resort and Trump Ice, which was a bottled water company that was sold on the East Coast. Donald Trump has dabbled in an array of businesses and The President's personal financial-disclosure report is extensive and lists Trump as a trustee, president, chairman, or member for more than 530 entities. Almost half of these companies listed have Trump's name as part of the company name.

        President Trump is not interested in divesting any of his financial interest as any smart business man back up as bad business practice and irrational. To avoid any conflict of interest that becoming President of the United States of America might have with his business deals, President Trump announced that that he would place his two sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, in charge of his multibillion-dollar Trump Organization. President Trump went on to say, ““My two sons, who are right here, Don and Eric are going to be running the company, they are going to be running it in a very professional manner. They’re not going to discuss it with me.” President Trump’s sons will have no-business related contact with their father while he serves as the President, and the company is appointing an ethics advisor to oversee any possible conflicts. Furthermore, President Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, whose husband is now a senior White House adviser, has resigned from all positions in the Trump Organization.

        On top of everything else that President Trump is doing to make sure the ethics of this country have no influence on any of his business deals, The Trump Organization will not make any new foreign deals during his administration and will only pursue domestic deals. He also made the intelligent decision not to sell off his assets because any effort to sell the company would be hampered by the fact that it’s the largest asset in the brand name associated with the newly elected President. To this, any questions about President Trump’s conflict of interest related to his business holdings barely made noise during the presidential campaign. He was asked in debates and television interviews what he would do with his business if he won. “I would have nothing to do with my company,” he said in September. He floated handing off the business to his three adult children.

        The reality is that the Trump Organization is actually just a string of interlocking LLCs that each individually own specific properties and specific debt. Many of these individual LLCs are linked to one of the more than two dozen foreign business deals Trump has been engaged in over the years. Already the Trump Organization began to extricate itself from some foreign business deals. The company cancelled deals to license the Trump name to buildings in Brazil; Azerbaijan; Argentina; Georgia; and Pune, India.

        The law doesn’t say the president can’t have a conflict of interest. But Congress, under Title 18 Section 208 of the U.S. code, did exempt the president and vice president from conflict-of-interest laws on the theory that the presidency has so much power that any possible executive action might pose a potential conflict. It is noted, “As a general rule, public officials in the executive branch are subject to criminal penalties if they personally and substantially participate in matters in which they (or their immediate families, business partners or associated organizations) hold financial interests, However, because of concerns regarding interference with the exercise of constitutional duties, Congress has not applied these restrictions to the President. Consequently, there is no current legal requirement that would compel the President to relinquish financial interests because of a conflict of interest.”