Trump Today Praising Himself for Breaking Promise to American People
Daily new conflicts of interest for Donald Trump are being discovered, as the President-elect ignores his promise to put his assets into a blind trust. Last week, Trump made 100 percent clear – on Twitter, of course – that he has zero intention of keeping his blind trust promise. Wednesday morning, in typical fashion, Trump tweeted up a storm, praising himself for what he says are legal documents now being drafted that will remove him from running his businesses.
Hogwash.
First, it’s important that Americans understand that every president in modern times, even though their wealth is dwarfed by the billions Trump is allegedly worth, has placed their assets in a blind trust. The only exception was Barack Obama, whose assets consisted of U.S. Treasury bonds, presenting no conflict of interest.
Next, it’s vital that Americans understand what a blind trust actually is, since Donald Trump either doesn’t, or pretends he doesn’t.
Simply put, in a blind trust, an individual, say, the president, gives total control to an individual or entity to buy or sell and to invest their assets as they see fit. Often times those assets are transferred into different assets, say, existing stocks are sold and replaced with bonds, or stocks in Apple are sold and stocks in Amazon are bought. The point being, the president has absolutely no idea where his or her money is invested, and therefore cannot make decisions for the nation that would positively affect his or her portfolio.
That’s how to avoid a conflict of interest.
Trump is refusing to do that. And given his insistence in having his children and his son-in-law by his side regularly, even in meetings with top foreign diplomats and heads of state, despite having them run his companies, well, there is a huge conflict of interest, regardless if legal documents now being drafted that will remove him from running his businesses. He can still tell Ivanka or Donald Jr. Or Eric what to do, and they can still seek his advice.
Here’s how Trump framed his broken promise Wednesday morning:
To be clear, Trump is breaking his promise to place his assets in a blind trust. To be clear, he can still make decisions that will impact his businesses regardless of what any legal documents state. For example, Trump admitted he asked a British political leader to help kill a planned wind farm that could be seen from his golf course – after winning the election.
Trump, in speaking with another foreign leader, managed to get permits for a stalled construction project – after winning the election.
Trump earlier this month settled three Trump University lawsuits, paying $25 million, including $1 million to the State of New York for breaking the law.
Trump earlier this month admitted that his foundation, engaged in self-dealing, an illegal practice, over multiple years.
Trump has proven willing to defraud people and to break the law.
Add to all this that Americans don’t even know the full extent of Trump’s assets – or debts – as he’s refused to release his tax returns.
The American people, or at least, the Electoral College, will have placed into the Oval Office a billionaire who has always engaged in doing business in his self-interest. In fact, everything Trump does is in his self interest.
Why should anyone believe these legal documents now being drafted that will remove him from running his businesses will be worth the paper they’re written on?
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Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC licenseÂ