DURING the presidential campaign there was much discussion about how the norms that govern American democracy were being ignored or rewritten. Those discussions have not stopped since Donald Trump became president-elect. His decision to put three of his children and one of their spouses on his presidential transition team, and the story, later denied, that he sought top-secret security clearances for them, has provoked concerns about what the roles of the president’s children and their spouses will be once Mr Trump takes office.
His mixing of public and private endeavours looks like a reversion to the way conflicts of interest worked at the presidential level before civil-service reform in the 20th century. Before then presidents frequently dabbled in business on the side. There are few laws governing what a president must do to manage such conflicts, but from the mid-century presidency of Dwight Eisenhower onwards most presidents have placed their assets in blind trusts. So far Mr Trump has declined to do any such thing.
The worry is not so much that Mr Trump’s children will be running his businesses while he is in the White House,...Continue reading
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