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Oversight

Law Prof: Ease Trump's Conflicts of Interest Via a Public Trust

The government should manage the president’s businesses, op-ed argues.

Charles S. Clark

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Charles S. Clark
Charles S. Clark
Senior Correspondent

President Trump’s plan announced on Jan. 11 to turn his vast business holdings over to his sons does not go far enough to allay concerns about conflicts of interest, a law professor says.

Given that the sons continue as close presidential advisers, a better solution would be a public trust, created by Congress, to manage the companies and channel profits to the U.S. treasury, wrote University of Virginia law Professor George M. Cohen in an op-ed in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal.

“His family could still be involved in the business, but ultimate authority would go to a congressionally appointed independent government trustee or board,” Cohen wrote. “The profits could be used, among other things, to offset the cost of Mr. Trump’s weekend trips to Mar-a-Lago or the extra security required for his family at Trump Tower in New York.”

Having the government in charge, Cohen added, would give officials an incentive to align the interests of Trump’s companies with those of the nation. “If a particular deal is good for the Trump Organization but bad for the U.S., the company would side with what’s best for America.”

Cohen acknowledged such a solution is imperfect in that Trump could define “the national interest” in ways that benefit his business, and the definition of “profits” could be manipulated—an issue some have raised in criticizing Trump’s plan to turn over to the government profits from foreign government guests’ stays at his Washington Trump International Hotel.

But setting up a government-run public trust would increase transparency, which would help in the ongoing debate, Cohen said. “If Mr. Trump continues his current strategy, he can expect an endless stream of lawsuits, boycotts, political criticism and second-guessing of his motivation.”       

NEXT STORY: White House Staff Ethics Training is Ongoing, Spokeswoman Says

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