Trump's Conflicts of Interest

Trump has said the president "can't have a conflict of interest." This is obviously false. Anyone can have a conflict of interest. What Trump was trying to say, in his confused way, is that there are no laws against the president having a conflict of interest, but that is a separate question. There is no doubt that a president can have a conflict of interest and that such conflicts could influence the president's decisons. Here is some coverage of Trump's foolish remark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieJPiMS5rao

One kind of conflict of interest for a public official happens when he or she has to make a decision between the public good and the official's own financial interests. If an official knows that a certain decision will benefit the people but will harm the official's wealth will he or she really be able to make this decision objectively?

A classic illustration of this difficulty occurred when President Eisenhower appointed Charles Edward Wilson, the President of General Motors, to be Secretary of Defense. During his confirmation hearings Wilson was told he would have to sell his stock in General Motors in order to avoid conflicts of interest. He tried to argue against this requirement by famously saying "...for years I thought what was good for our country was good for General Motors, and vice versa."

Wilson may have been completely sincere in his belief that there would never be a conflict between the interests of the United States and the interests of General Motors. The problem is - he might have only believed that because he owned a big pile of GM stock!

The great American writer Sinclair Lewis captured the problem eloquently when he said "It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it!"

Trump has spent his whole life making decisions designed to increase or protect his wealth. Will he suddenly, now, be able to make decisions that would hurt his financial position if those are the decisions required for the good of the country? Wouldn't it be much wiser for him to avoid such conflicts of interest as every other modern president has done?

This excellent article in The Atlantic gives a long list of Trump's conflicts of interest that could influence him to make decisions benefiting himself rather than our country: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/03/donald-trump-conflicts-of-interests/508382/

Consider just one example: Trump's recent trademark win in China. After fighting to protect his trademark in China for more than 10 years Trump finally won his case in a Chinese court just last month. The timing of this is fascinating and disturbing. Is China trying to get some kind of leverage over Trump? Will it work?

This trademark deal is obviously very important to Trump. He has been trying to get it for more than a decade. It could mean a lot of money for him, and his children, and his grandchildren.

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Trump promised during the campaign that he would be tough on China for using unfair trade practices against the United States. I don't know if being tough on China is the right policy here but what if it is? Will Trump really be tough on China when that government might retaliate by taking away the trademark protection that he has wanted for so long and that is so valuable to him and his family?

This Chinese trademark issue is just one example. Trump has MANY conflicts of interest that will make it difficult for him to make objective decisions in cases where what is needed for the good of the country is different from what is needed for his own financial interests.

The election is over and Trump is president. Even so, we still have a right and a duty to watch his actions closely and intelligently. If it becomes clear he is using his position as president to benefit himself at the expense of the nation then we have ways to remove him from office.

Copyright © 2017 by Joseph Wayne Gadway