TRUMP FAMILY TRIES TO RESOLVE POTENTIAL PROBLEMS

WASHINGTON — Realizing that his presidency could face potentially crippling questions over conflicts of interest, Donald J. Trump and his family are rushing to resolve potential controversies — like shuttering foundations and terminating development deals — even as the president-elect publicly maintains that no legal conflicts exist.
In recent days, the president-elect and his aides have said that he intends to distribute the assets of his personal charity and then shutter it. He has examined a plan to hire an outside monitor to oversee the Trump Organization and has terminated some international business projects


“This is a process that my father and my family are taking incredibly seriously,” said Eric Trump, who will help oversee the Trump Organization, and who announced last week that he was terminating fund-raising for his own charity, the Eric Trump Foundation.

Even with the proposed steps, it is unclear how much the Trump family can or will unwind its ties to its business empire. No matter what, Mr. Trump will enter the White House with a maze of financial holdings unlike those of any other president in American history. Many ethics experts still say the only way Mr. Trump can eliminate his most serious conflicts is to liquidate his company, and then put the money into a blind trust — a move Mr. Trump has so far rejected as impractical and unreasonable.
The potential roles that his daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, may play in the administration are particularly vexatious. Both have business operations that could benefit from their government roles — even if they are not involved in the businesses on a day-to-day basis. Ms. Trump’s business is so tied to her name that any position she might take in the White House or informal role she might play as an adviser to her father could benefit her company, which she will still own.
And because Mr. Trump refuses to release his tax returns, the extent of his potential conflicts remains unknown.

culled from The New York Times