Donald Trump Jr.’s business trip to India this week has renewed scrutiny of the nexus between President Trump and the multibillion dollar company his sons still run.
The president’s eldest son was set to attend dinners this week in several Indian cities in an effort to promote Trump-branded apartment and condominium complexes, according to the Times of India. Although the Trump Organization reportedly closed on the Indian developments before Trump took office, critics have questioned whether members of the first family should continue their involvement in foreign business projects.
Trump Jr.’s trip also involves a scheduled appearance at a New Delhi business conference that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to attend, creating a situation where diplomacy and Trump Organization business could overlap.
“They are auctioning off access to the first family in a foreign land,” Norman Eisen, chair of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told CNN. “What is to stop a foreign national with interests before the U.S. government from asking Don Junior to raise some issue or concern with his father? We know that father and son talk all the time, and discuss business.”
Trump vowed to remove himself from the operation of his company when he took office, and he promised the Trump Organization would not strike any new foreign deals during his presidency.
However, the president stopped short of selling his company or placing his investments in a blind trust, a move critics argued left Trump open to potential conflicts of interest.
For example, some ethics experts have scrutinized the revenue Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. has earned from foreign dignitaries and special interest groups who might book events or stays at the hotel in an effort to reach the president.
Public Citizen, a watchdog group, released a report last month that documented dozens of instances in which potential conflicts of interest arose from groups or politicians that patronized Trump properties.
“Business is booming at the Trump International Hotel in D.C., not because of the décor, but because corporations and foreign governments want to curry favor with the president,” Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, said in a statement in January.
The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment about what steps the company may have taken to shield Trump Jr. from potential conflicts of interest related to his India trip.
