The mayor of Taoyuan confirmed rumors on Wednesday that US president-elect Donald Trump was considering constructing a series of luxury hotels and resorts in the northwest Taiwanese city.A representative from the Trump Organization paid a visit to Taoyuan in September, expressing interest in the city’s Aerotropolis, a large-scale urban development project aimed at capitalizing on Taoyuan’s status as a transport hub for East Asia, Taiwan News reports.With the review process for the Aerotropolis still underway, Taoyuan’s mayor referred to the subject of the meeting as mere investment speculation. Other reports indicate that Eric Trump, the president-elect’s second son and executive vice president of the Trump Organization, will be coming to Taoyuan later this year to discuss the potential business opportunity.
Trump’s globe-spanning business ventures have drawn criticism for their potential to create conflicts of interest while he is in office. Although the President and Vice President are
exempted from federal conflicts of interest law, almost every office-holder in the past 50 years has turned over their assets to be managed by an independent trustee after being elected. Under this financial arrangement, called a
“blind trust,” the president would have no knowledge of the trustee’s actions or investments, allowing him to make decisions with a higher degree of impartiality.
However, President-elect Trump has broken with this tradition through his pledge to turn over management of his company to his children Ivanka, Eric and Donald Jr. after he assumes office. While Trump and his children have still referred to this arrangement as a “blind trust,” this decision has several obvious flaws, mainly that it is not “blind” at all. Adding to this ethical quagmire is the Trump childrens’
presence on their father’s White House transition team, which recently asked the government if the family members could receive top security clearance.
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