President-elect Donald Trump has finally revealed some details about how he plans to handle one of his businesses while preparing to become the nation’s commander-in-chief. Trump said during a press conference Wednesday that he’ll pass the baton to his two sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. However, the President-elect will still be able to benefit from the multibillion-dollar company.
“My two sons, who are right here, Don and Eric, are going to be running the company,” Trump said during the conference. “They are going to be running it in a very professional manner. They’re not going to discuss it with me.”
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However, he’ll still be able to personally profit from his decision-making, as he’ll be receiving regular statements on the profits and losses for the company, according to his lawyer Sheri Dillon.
The entrepreneur’s stance on avoiding a conflict of interest isn’t recommended by the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) for the president. OGE Director Walter Shaub Jr. said yesterday that Trump “doesn’t meet the standard that the best of nominees are meeting and that every president of the past four decades has met.”
The OGE was created by Congress to oversee and approve blind trusts in the Ethics in Government Act, passed in 1978.
Like several other things, Trump has shifted away from traditions set by his predecessors; all previous presidents have worked diligently with the OGE to avoid entering office with significant conflicts of interest.
“A conflict of interest is anything that creates an incentive to put your own interests before the interest of the people you serve,” Shaub said.