Trump Puts Conference To Discuss His Businesses, Conflict Of Interest Concerns On Hold
President-elect Donald Trump will postpone this week's previously announced press conference to discuss future business plans and the array of conflict of interest woes facing his presidency, Trump's transition officials said.
Trump announced the Dec. 15 conference in a long string of tweets a few weeks ago expressing plans to pass along his business empire to his children, but now officials say the real estate mogul wants more time to prepare as he's been swamped with selecting his administration team, Bloomberg reports.
Using Twitter on Nov. 30, Trump said legal documents were being crafted to remove him completely from his business operations. "...I will be leaving my great business in total in order to fully focus on running the country to make America great again," Trump tweeted.
Concerns regarding the unprecedented conflicts of interest surrounding Trump's business operations—including his hotels, resorts and private clubs—are piling up. This includes Trump's Old Post Office Building in DC. Once sworn in, Trump will be both tenant and landlord and will be in conflict of his lease. Similarly, the president-elect could run intro trouble regarding the state-owned Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, one of his largest office tenants at Trump Tower. Once sworn in, Trump will be taking millions in payments from a foreign power.
Many are anxiously waiting to see how Trump, who has about $3.6B worth of assets and $630M worth of debt held in 500 companies, will address these concerns once he takes office. [Bloomberg]
