Trump said to postpone announcement on future of businesses

[Jacque67 7,328]

elect Donald Trump is postponing until next month a previously announced news conference to outline how hell handle his far-flung business operations while in the White House, according to senior Trump transition officials.

Trump had planned to make the announcement Dec. 15 but wants more time because hes been occupied with filling out his cabinet and top administration posts, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. He said on Twitter Monday night that hell reveal his choice for secretary of state on Tuesday.

The president-elect has consulted various legal specialists as well as Don McGahn, his pick for White House counsel, about how to deal with his organization, the officials said. A new date for the announcement hasnt been set, but it will be before his inauguration on Jan. 20, they said.

Trump has about $3.6 billion of assets and $630 million of debt held in more than 500 companies, according to a July analysis by Bloomberg. His golf developments, tenant rosters, loans and licensing arrangements tie him to businesses and governments in 20 countries. Those ties risk hobbling his presidency with questions about motives for his policy and may raise constitutional issues.

https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-12-12/trump-said-to-postpone-announcement-on-future-of-his-businesses

A good grift takes time...

[Jacque67 7,328]

Donald Trump hasnt been sworn in yet, but he is already making decisions and issuing statements to world leaders that radically depart from American foreign policy, all to the benefit of his familys corporate empire. Because of this, the next president of the United States is already vulnerable to undue influence by other nations, including through bribery and even blackmail.

Given the vast scope of the clashes between the Trumps extensive business dealings and the interests of America, the president-elect vowed during the campaign to eliminate potential conflicts by severing ties to his companyyet, with only weeks to go until he takes the oath of office, he hasnt laid out a credible plan. Trumps sole suggestion to datea blind trust run by his childrenwould not eliminate the conflicts, given that the money generated would still go to his family. Moreover, such a trust would be anything but blind: If Trump Tower Moscow goes under construction, Trump will see it while in Russia and know that his kids are making millions of dollars from it. That is why foreign leaders hoping to curry favor will do everything they can to help Trumps family erect more buildings, sell more jewelry and make money through any means possible. Even if the family steps away from its company while Trump is president, every nation on Earth will know that doing business with the Trump Organization will one day benefit the family. The only way to eliminate the conflictssell the company, divvy up the proceedshas been rejected by Trump, whose transition team refused to respond to any questions from Newsweek for this article.

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Foreign governments and lobbyists have rushed to book rooms at the new Trump International Hotel in D.C., expecting to curry favor with the president-elect.

CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY

Some of the most egregious conflicts that have emerged involve countries in Asia and its subregions, particularly the Philippines. Global policy on the Philippines has been fraught with tension since the election in May of Rodrigo Duterte as the countrys president. Duterte, who boasted to voters during the campaign that he had shot a fellow law school student for teasing him, has championed the killing of suspected criminals and street children by vigilante death squads. In 2015, he said that if he became president, up to 100,000 people suspected of links to illegal drugs could be killed. Just months after his election, Duterte said he was eager to lead a genocide of up to 3 million drug addicts. I'd be happy to slaughter them, he said. At least if Germany had Hitler, the Philippines would have [me]. And in September, an admitted hit man testified to a Senate committee in the Philippines that Duterte presided over a killing campaign when he was mayor of Davao City.

http://www.newsweek.com/2016/12/23/donald-trump-foreign-business-deals-jeopardize-us-531140.html