Just two short weeks before inauguration, Trump still has yet to put his businesses in a blind trust. Despite pressure from Republicans and Democrats alike, Trump hasn’t moved on the issue. On Monday, a bipartisan group of politicians, ethics advocates and academics sent a letter to Trump, which ended with, “Respectfully, you cannot serve the country as president and also own a world-wide business enterprise, without seriously damaging the presidency.”
Some of his most prominent conflicts of interest include the $20,000-per-night Trump International Hotel, located a few blocks from the White House, luxury real estate projects in Saudi Arabia, a country which Trump explicitly said he would protect, and Trump’s public plan to make multiple family members public officials in spite of anti-nepotism laws. He also has many ongoing legal and union disputes and his businesses have an international presence. In fact, the Bank of China is one of his lenders.
One of his loudest themes during the campaign was the idea of “cleaning up Washington,” but so far he appears to embody the exact cronyism and he promised his supporters he would fix. Some optimists say this lack of transparency might make people question why he’s making decisions and if his businesses are benefiting. Of course he’s benefiting!
Trump continues to prove that he’s unfit for the presidency — in terms of experience, (lack of) policy, temperament and clear conflicts of interest that he refuses to address.
This is why we need to stand together to resist the Trump agenda. We need to concentrate on defeating Trump with local action. We need to attend city council and county commission meetings, call our local, state and Congressional representatives, and we need to run for local office.