Donald Trump Cancels Press Conference To Address His Sleazy Conflicts Of Interest

The specter of Donald Trump’s business relations continues to hang heavily over his pending administration. For months there has been concern over the far flung enterprises that could have a profound impact on how he might govern. The opportunity for personal enrichment is more than speculation

Donald Trump

Foreign government officials are already trying to curry favor with Trump by booking rooms at his hotels. What’s worse, Trump has projects in countries whose leaders could use their presence to blackmail Trump. That can take the shape of denying permits or other regulatory requirements that would kill the projects. But it could also involve harassment, and even imprisonment, of Trump’s local associates.

There is no way to adequately prevent such activities without Trump completely divesting himself of his businesses. Simply handing them off to his kids would not suffice. Everyone, including Trump, would still know how to influence the leader of the free world. So two weeks ago, in an attempt to address these problems, Trump announced that he would hold a press conference. In a series of tweets (of course) he said that:

“I will be holding a major news conference in New York City with my children on December 15 to discuss the fact that I will be leaving my great business in total in order to fully focus on running the country in order to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! 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..Hence, legal documents are being crafted which take me completely out of business operations. The Presidency is a far more important task!”

Once again, Trump still thinks that his kids would provide the necessary distance to avoid potential corruption. But all it does is appoints his kids as the executors of his worldwide graft and bribery operations. It could not be characterized as a “blind trust” and would still be a tempting target for favors or threats. However, even his promise to hold a press conference on these dubious terms is not being kept. On Monday he disgorged another set of tweets saying:

These remarks leave numerous questions unanswered. There is still no clarification of how he would address his glaring conflicts of interest. And he still offers his family as phony managers of his financial empire. No legal ruling has been made as to whether he might be in violation of the law. Although many experts believe the Constitution would prohibit his continued ownership status. The definition of “new deals” could mean anything. And despite the “busy times” he’s still not too busy to watch Saturday Night Live and meet with Kanye West.

Finally, by canceling the press conference that was scheduled for this Thursday, Trump has relieved himself of the responsibility to provide answers for these questions. He now says that he will hold a press conference sometime in January. That could mean so close to, or even after, the inauguration that it would be impossible to research and respond. Plus, he is combining that proposed press conference with several other unrelated subjects.

Trump has not held a press conference in the five weeks since Election Day. That’s the longest period a president-elect has gone without a post-election press conference in forty years. But it’s even worse than that because he hasn’t had a formal press conference at all since July. In fact, with only a few exceptions, he hasn’t been interviewed on a non-Fox News outlet in nearly six months. This was so egregious that Fox News even reported it.

This deliberate snubbing of the press has enabled Trump to avoid some serious issues. For instance, persistent allegations of voter suppression and his loss of the popular vote. Charges by at least a dozen women who claim he sexual assaulted them. Payment of $25 million to settle a lawsuit to compensate the fraud victims of his phony Trump University. His white supremacist (aka alt-right) cabinet and administration appointees. His unsavory connections to Russia and its efforts to interfere with the election. And, of course, his chronic and ethically compromising conflicts of interest. The lengthening list of political atrocities makes it impossible to cover in a single event.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
Available now at Amazon.

No one knows whether Trump is going to hold a press conference to address any of these issues. He broke his promise to do so on Thursday and could do the same next month. Or he could hold another press conference that turns into an infomercial for his hotels and cheesy products. He’s done that before as well. The bottom line is that he cannot be trusted to keep his word or to abstain from personally enriching himself and his family. This charlatan needs to be watched like the vulture he is lest he consume what remains of our country, it’s democracy, and freedom.

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8 thoughts on “Donald Trump Cancels Press Conference To Address His Sleazy Conflicts Of Interest

  1. That bastard must never be allowed in the White House! He is a traitor! Use the law to put him in prison!

    • so Ann,tell us how you REALLY feel about AMERICA and the people that voted him in.ALL OF THEM,must completely out of their minds!!!!

      • Yes they certainly are.

        What? I’m completely serious here. With the exception on the racists, most of the others who voted for him are clearly NOT going to get what they want from him. Lock Hillary up? Not happening. Drain the swamp? Heck he IS a swamp to begin with and he has already chosen billionaire swamp dwellers as part of his cabinate.

        Those people who voted for him because they thought he would make life better for him are already seeing signs that won’t happen and he’s not even President yet. Then again these things were clear from the very beginning of his campaign.

        Can’t say I’m impressed by the competency of those taken in by such an obvious liar like him.

        BTW your attempt at ad populum is laughable too considering Trump lost the popular vote. 2.5 million more people voted for his opponent than him.

        So Mr Ad Populum. Why don’t you tell us your real thoughts about THOSE people? Or do you have none of your own?

  2. Did he say “visually” important or was it supposed to be “vitally” important and he got mixed up? Or is it simply a typo?

  3. If any Democrat was making money from a business that they, or their family members were involved with, every Rethuglican would be on every Sunday news shows. Screaming from the tops of the lungs, about conflicts of interest, crony capitalism. Not a word out of any of them. Talk about double standards.

    • I prefer clueless idiots without an ounce of common sense. Trump steaks, anyone?????

  4. The people in the US haven’t been taught anything about critical thinking. Our school systems are in horrible shape. Why? Because the republican legislators have stripped money from schools to give tax breaks to the wealthy. Uneducated people are easily fooled by someone like trump. Many do not have the means to have access to communications and real news. Our social media is riddled with blogs lying about anyone they want. Not only inside but countries other than ours prey on venerable people. The dissalusioned voters who voted for trump’s lies feel that they have been forgotten by everyone in government. Unfortunately these people will lose the most from trump’s lies. Unless people are educated to know that people who are different aren’t the enemy, retraining is made available and people are taught to recognize a lying bastard, trumps are possible. The list could go one but in a country that ranks 27th in education (China ranks first) we have ourselves to blame. People accept whatever they hear and DON’T question or fact check. Wake up! Our priorities are upside down. If we don’t wake up, we deserve the hate, and white supremacy, and all that comes from trump. He lost the popular vote by close to 3 million votes.

  5. I was reminded of your article a while back about the ReThuglicans raring at the bit to impeach Hillary Clinton the minute she assumed the office of the presidency (which you had already parodied years ago). Of course, now that Donald Trump is half a step away from assuming that office, I wonder how long it will be before the ReThuglicans whine that it’s unconstitutional for the Democrats to make any move NOW to impeach The Dumbald. What do you think?

    https://www.newscorpse.com/ncWP/?p=29933

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