When President Donald Trump arrives at the Persian Gulf on Tuesday for his first visit abroad since he recovered the White House, he will land in a region that is rich in opportunities. In the diplomatic front, it is expected to be concentrated in commercial agreements and economic ties.
But for Trump and his family, there are also opportunities in business and real estate agreements.
Some ethical experts say that the way in which their family business has addressed these opportunities raises family concerns of possible conflicts of interest, since Trump meets with the leaders of the region, who could have the success of Trump’s companies there.
During Trump’s first mandate, his family said I would not pursue Any new company abroad abroad. But now, in Trump’s second term, the Trump organization has several active projects in the Gulf region, including some that have been launched in the months since Trump returned to office, which suggests that his self -imposed moratorium has dissipated.
Trump’s visit to the United Arab Emirates, for example, occurs just over a week after Trump’s organization announced The development of a building and 80 -story residential club called Trump International Hotel & Tower, Dubai.
At a launch party for the project last week, an executive to give global, the development firm that is associated with the Trump organization, said in a very produced Social Network Clip That the project “is perfectly positioned to capture the growth of Dubai, offering investors the rare opportunity to be part of a global success, driven by Trump’s name and the experience of giving global.”
And last week, the Trump family cryptocurrency company, World Liberty Financial, announced that an investment firm based in Abu Dhabi would make a large investment of $ 2 billion in the company.
In this archive photo of December 20, 2016, an employee cuts the grass in front of the Club House at the Trump International Golf Club, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Kamran Jebreili/AP, file
The USD1, the so -called “Stablecoin” of World Liberty Financial, a digital asset designed to maintain a stable value, is expected to be used to complete the investment transaction of $ 2 billion of Emirarati MGX’s signature in Crypto Exchange Binance, ABC News reported.
In Qatar, Trump will arrive only two weeks after his son Eric Trump signed a deal To develop a $ 5.5 billion golf club north of Doha, called Trump International Golf Club, Simaisima, which will include “an 18 -hole golf course, an exclusive club house and Trump brand villages”, according to the plans.
And in Saudi Arabia, three projects of the Trump organization are currently in progress, including two residential projects and a golf course. According to the reports, the development firm with which they have been associated for many of these regional projects, to give global, has close links with the Saudi government.
Trump also recently received a high -profile golf tournament for the LIV golf tour backed by Saudi in his Trump national doral complex near Miami.
Before Trump swore his second term, Eric Trump announced that the Trump organization had hired an external ethics advisor to help the company promulgate a “series of comprehensive ethical measures” that “would proactively address possible conflicts.”
“Although neither the Federal Law nor the Constitution of the United States prohibits the presidents from continuing to possess, operate and administer their businesses and investments, while in office, the Trump organization has taken these additional measures as part of its continuous commitment to guarantee transparency, reach the highest legal standards and even avoid the appearance of ethical concerns,” the announcement said.
Many ethics experts have strongly criticized the agreement as insufficient. Danielle Brian, executive director of the Non -Party Government’s Surveillance Project on Government’s supervision, told ABC News that the commercial efforts of the Trump organization, including foreigners, are completely legal, but that Trump is “carrying weakness in our current ethics laws … at a completely new level in this administration.”
“We have never seen the type of money at stake and the type of shameless leverage of political power for a personal financial gain that we have seen in this administration,” Brian said.
Before Trump’s visit to the Gulf, vigilant citizens of ethics for responsibility and ethics in Washington wrote that “Trump knows that the decisions they make as president could affect their results, and foreign officials in those countries could provide special treatment for the president of the United States, or exact punishments for the decisions they do not like.”
Trump has not yet released his financial revelations as president, so it is not clear what arrangements he has made to guarantee a firewall between his personal businesses and his presidency. But Trump and the White House have repeatedly denied and strongly that their private commercial interests equals a conflict of interest.
When asked on Friday if Trump would hold personal business meetings during his visit to the Middle East, the White House Secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said it was “frankly ridiculous that anyone in this room suggests that President Trump is doing anything for his own benefit.”
