Wednesday Briefing: President Trump’s Concerning Business Deals

If Trump is re-elected, his business could cause friction.

Donald Trump is making money with a variety of new ventures as he seeks re-election for a second term. But unlike his first term, when he halted new international deals and hired an outside ethics adviser, he has not promised to rein in the company’s freewheeling ways.

This year alone, his business has closed real estate deals in countries central to American foreign policy, including Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Doing business overseas with government agencies as well as traditional companies creates an ethical minefield, experts say, and both those governments and the Trump family’s business interests could benefit from U.S. foreign policy. The house said.

Such conflicts are nothing new for President Trump, but there are more of them now. Legal and ethics experts said that even if he were to win, he would have little ability to curb such moves.

Your question: We asked campaign finance director Theodore Shleifer this question from a reader.

I am surprised that Elon Musk is allowed to offer (large amounts of) money in exchange for signing petitions and registering to vote. Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose of the petition? Could that be considered a vote bribe? — Marie Pauline Dessett, NSW, Australia

Theodore: Musk claims he is not offering money to register to vote, only to sign petitions. The problem, however, is that the petition is open only to registered voters, which some legal commentators believe is effectively an invitation to register to vote.

To be honest, the exact purpose of the petition is not entirely clear. Mr. Musk has collected data on the most ardent supporters of his political agenda, giving him a world of sophisticated voters to likely target Mr. Trump on Election Day. Is this just to get earned media, or do they want to use that data in future operations? I have no idea.

Learn more: Theodore and my colleagues reported on a warning from the Department of Justice that masks may violate federal law. The Philadelphia district attorney accused him of setting up what amounted to an “illegal lottery.”