President-elect Donald J. Trump has had conflict of interest issues surrounding him ever since his upset win over Hillary Clinton. He sold all of his shares in the various companies where he made an investment; he said that his children will be taking over his vast empire, and that he’s committed 100 percent in making America great again. It’s a no-brainer move, right? Well, there needs to be some more clarity on the subject, especially since he wasn’t necessarily resolute concerning divesting from the Trump Organization. He was planning on making that announcement this Thursday, but decided to hold off until January (via WaPo):
Trump has been under significant pressure to step away from his various business interests since winning the election to avoid possible conflicts of interest. On Sunday, Trump repeated he will hand over day-to-day management of the Trump Organization to his three eldest children, but suggested he would not fully divest from the company.“Essentially, I’m not going to have anything to do with the management,” Trump told “Fox News Sunday.” “When I ran everybody knew that I was a very big owner of real estate all over the world. I mean, I’m not going to have anything to do with the management of the company. I’m not going to be doing deals at all.”
The president-elect was scheduled to give a news conference Thursday to detail plans to separate himself from his business concerns. It was to be his first news conference since winning the election Nov. 8.
“While I am not mandated to do this under the law, I feel it is visually important, as President, to in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses,” Trump tweeted Nov. 30. “Hence, legal documents are being crafted which take me completely out of business operations. The Presidency is a far more important task!”
A spokesman for Trump said the delay is taking place so Trump can continue to focus on building his cabinet.
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Trump tweeted that he plans to make his secretary of state announcement tomorrow. It’s been reported that Exxon Mobile CEO and Chairman Rex Tillerson will be picked to be our top diplomat.
I will be making my announcement on the next Secretary of State tomorrow morning.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2016
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