CNN
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Two months after the election, President-elect Donald Trump bought Truth Social’s nearly 8.5 million followers a limited edition autographed guitar and a Trump-themed fragrance that “symbolizes victory.” I called on them to do so.
Mr. Trump recently added an $899 gold-plated Inaugural Edition to the line of watches he first released this summer, and his new sneaker brand now features a state-by-state map of Mr. Trump’s election victories. They sell shoes.
The post-election pitch shows how closely intertwined Trump’s personal business interests are with his politics. But less than two weeks after being sworn into office, the Republican billionaire and the Trump Organization have detailed how exactly they intend to cut off interests ranging from hotels, golf clubs and licensing deals to real estate. has not been disclosed to the public. New cryptocurrency venture – from my job as president.
Trump has so far transferred shares of Truth Social’s parent company into a long-term trust, of which he is the sole beneficiary, according to recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. His eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is the trustee. Ethics experts say these steps fall far short of the blind trusts and divestitures of private business interests that other presidents have used to avoid ethical conflicts with their jobs.
And there are signs that restrictions on the Trump Organization’s activities will be less strict than they were during Trump’s first four years in the White House. His son, Eric Trump, who oversees the company on a day-to-day basis, said the company would end the voluntary ban on overseas transactions it had put in place during his first term and continue to pursue business opportunities overseas.
Marketing efforts surrounding President Donald Trump’s return to the White House “clearly indicate a focus on monetizing the presidency,” said Kedrick, senior director of ethics at the Legal Center, an election watchdog group.・Mr. Payne stated. “The concern is that he will use the presidency to benefit himself and his family beyond anything imaginable.”
Payne added that there is little incentive for Trump to erect new guardrails against potential self-dealing, given that he will not face voters again as a presidential candidate. Trump’s supporters said they were “well aware of the conflict” and did not believe it disqualified him from being president.
President Trump’s press secretary, Caroline Leavitt, said in a statement that the president-elect did not enter politics for “commercial purposes,” and that he resigned from corporate management during his first term, reducing his annual presidential salary to $400,000. He pointed out that he had decided to donate.
“President Trump stepped away from his multibillion-dollar real estate empire to run for office and deferred his government paycheck, making him the first president to actually lose his net worth while in the White House,” said Levitt, the incoming president. he said. As Trump’s second White House press secretary. “Unlike many politicians, President Trump is not in politics for profit. He is fighting because he loves the people of this country and wants to make America great again. .”
Transition officials did not respond to questions about the president-elect’s plans to avoid potential conflict.
Eric Trump and other company executives did not respond to CNN’s inquiries about Trump’s plans for a second term. In a recent interview with CNBC, the younger Trump said he takes ethical safeguards very seriously and said the president-elect “has nothing to do with the company.”
But the intersection of President Trump’s political ambitions and his family’s extensive business ventures was on full display at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday. As a strong morning breeze cooled the mansion’s courtyard, Eric Trump met outside with Hussein Sajwani, the billionaire developer from the United Arab Emirates who built the Trump International Golf Club in Dubai.
Shortly after, the former president appeared with Sajwani at his gilded mansion in Florida, where the two announced the Emirati tycoon’s pledge to spend at least $20 billion developing U.S. data centers. In front of a small group of reporters, President Trump emphasized his commitment to streamlining federal approvals for corporate ventures worth more than $1 billion, such as the project proposed by Mr. Sajwani, while Eric Trump spoke from the back of the room. I stayed still.
The Trump family has been pursuing new ventures even as Trump seeks the presidency, including World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency platform that President Eric Trump touted at a conference in the United Arab Emirates last month. Ta. Investors include crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, whom the Securities and Exchange Commission charged in 2023 with fraud and other violations of securities laws. In a post on X, Sun said he had invested $30 million in the Trump family’s company. Sun and his company deny any wrongdoing.
The company could benefit if Trump follows through on his promise to be a crypto-friendly president. President Trump has already announced that tech investor David Sachs, a close ally and funder, will oversee crypto policy from the White House.
Steve Witkoff, a business partner in the family’s cryptocurrency venture, also joined the Trumps at Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday. Witkoff, who will be President Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, spoke briefly to reporters about early efforts with the Biden administration to negotiate a hostage deal between Hamas and Israel.
Presidents are exempt from criminal and civil conflict of interest laws that apply to other government officials, but past presidents have taken steps to avoid even the appearance of profiting from public office. For example, George W. Bush sold his stake in the Texas Rangers baseball team as he prepared for his presidential campaign.
After being elected president in 2016, Trump took public steps to address ethical concerns by placing his business holdings in a trust. But ethics watchdog groups criticized his decision to retain ownership of Empire, which was run by his adult sons and the company’s longtime executives during his tenure. At the time, Trump officials pledged not to pursue any new foreign deals during his presidential term. This time, Eric Trump said that the company will not work with foreign governments, but will continue to work on overseas operations.
Meanwhile, the ethics policy for members of President Trump’s presidential transition team excludes the president’s explicit pledge to avoid conflicts of interest.
The potential conflict has only escalated between Trump’s first departure from the White House and the final days of the 2024 campaign. Mr. Trump, who has long capitalized on the reputation he built as a Manhattan socialite and celebrity developer, has used his name to cash in on his presidential campaign, unlike his predecessors. He launched a series of new businesses selling shoes, watches, coins, and NFT trading cards through licensing agreements.
Little information has been made public about President Trump’s new business dealings. Some of his business partners are hidden by opaque limited liability companies. For example, CNN’s attempt to track down the maker of Trump watches, including the $100,000 Tourbillion watch, ended up in a nondescript office space in Wyoming, where disclosure laws are noticeably lax.
Trump has not yet promised to reveal further details about his new business partner. He also hasn’t said whether he will continue selling Trump-themed merchandise after he takes office later this month.
But the Trump Organization is capitalizing on the milestone his return to the White House represents. The company’s Trump Store sells polo shirts, glasses, mugs and other items emblazoned with the numbers “45” and “47,” representing the positions of past U.S. presidents.
CNN’s David Goldman contributed to this report.
