But in its investigation of the Trump Organization and its extensive foreign dealings, Newsweek found that unless President Trump – and his entire family – severed all connections to the business, “almost every foreign policy decision he makes will raise serious conflicts of interest and ethical quagmires” that would “constantly jeopardize the security of the United States”.
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Donald Trump said on Thursday he “would absolutely sever” ties to the Trump Organization if he were elected president. Trump’s frequent praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin has already sparked concern among national security experts about USA foreign policy under a possible Trump presidency.
Among the issues raised by the questions were the nature of Trump’s relationships with Russian oligarchs, his business ties with politically-connected Indian developers, and how he would handle contracts with foreign entities that can not be canceled.
Gary Hufbauer, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said Trump’s massive empire meant that a Trump White House will be “a constant drama as to whether his business ventures are benefiting or being harmed by his public policy decisions”.
However, government regulatory hurdles soon impeded the project, the cover story said adding that Donald Trump Jr. flew to India to plead with Prithviraj Chavan, chief minister of Maharashtra, asking that he remove the hurdles.
Trump responded that he would “absolutely get out in some form”.
One of Trump’s most troubling business entanglements is in Turkey, a critical US ally in the fight against ISIL in the Middle East. “The first few presidents had conflicts of interests that made it impossible for them to intelligently and ethically deal with the country’s first moral dilemma”. The first would be to disclose those business dealings, a second is that he has to divest from his company if he wins the presidency – a requirement that would apply to Cabinet members, said Podesta, a former noted.
The Trump Organisation, which has a business model of licensing its brand to real estate developers around the world, has at least three projects in progress in India – In Pune, Mumbai and Gurgaon. Eichenwald said that “the head of that organization, who, again, very politically connected, very tied in to the Putin government, backed away from the deal because Trump wanted too much money”.
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Both presidential candidate’s foundations have come under scrutiny this election.
