Despite promises from Donald Trump that he would avoid potential conflicts of interest while in the White House, the president-elect met with Indian business partners and his three eldest children at Trump Tower in Manhattan over the weekend, The Huffington Post reported.
Trump has said he is handing over his business to his children, who serve on the executive committee of the presidential transition team, in what the president-elect calls a "blind trust," although that move does not fit the definition of that phrase.
"He's clearly not able to maintain a blind trust and still keep the company under his ownership and, frankly, control," Jordan Libowitz of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington told The Huffington Post. "We really think that the best thing he can do is sell the company outside of the family and place the money from the sale into an actual blind trust."
The Economic Times reported that Indian government policy and their mutual business interests were discussed at the meeting and that there was optimism for continued growth of Trump projects in India.
There have already been several other examples in the short period since the election that have raised alarm bells among many. The Huffington Post reported that Ivanka Trump, who is executive vice president of development and acquisitions for the Trump Organization, was also at the president-elect's first meeting with a foreign leader, Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe.
And the Philippines announced that Jose E.B. Antonio, who is Trump’s business partner in that country, would be Manila’s envoy to the U.S. for trade and investment.
In addition, the Trump International Hotel hosted a sales pitch for the diplomatic community one week after the election to explain the benefits of their establishment, which is just a few blocks from the White House, according to The Washington Post.
This raises strong concerns that dignitaries visiting the capital will choose to stay there as a way of currying favor with the president. Some attending the conference also won free overnight stays at other Trump properties worldwide.