Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:35 pm
During his interview with The New York Times, President-elect Donald Trump inaccurately declared that he would have no conflicts of interest because”The President can’t have a conflict of interest.”
Maggie Haberman of The New York Times is one of the journalists and editors who live-tweeted the interview.
She tweeted Trump’s troubling answers on conflicts of interest:
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Trump on his businesses/conflict q's: "The law's totally on my side, the president can't have a conflict of interest."
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
"In theory I could run my business perfectly and then run the country perfectly. There's never been a case like this,"he says of his tangles
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
Trump says "in theory" he could continue signing checks at his company, but he is "phasing that out now" and giving to his kids.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 22, 2016
Trump has taken the exemption of the president and vice president to Title 18 Section 208 of the U.S. code and turned into a moral superiority of the president. Of course, the president can have a conflict of interest. It doesn’t matter what the statute states, ethically, presidents are human beings who are capable of conflicts of interest.
The president-elect is also constitutionally bound not to accept gifts or compensation from foreign governments under the Emoluments Clause. What is troubling about Trump’s answer is that he justified conflicts of interest, and the president-elect is demonstrating a view of executive power that is above the law.
President-elect Trump appears to be laying the groundwork for corruption on a massive scale. The Electoral College will choose Donald Trump, and it looks like the president-elect is preparing to pillage America.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
