Trump’s Sons Distanced from Charity Effort
Much ado has been made in the past few weeks about the Trump family’s connections to various business interests, foreign and domestic. While the President-Elect has said he plans to distance himself from his business interests, one stone that has remained unturned is how involved the Trumps are in various charity enterprises.
At least, until recently. After it was announced that the Opening Day Foundation would be “gifting” access to the Trump “kids” in exchange for hefty donations, those same Trump children put out a statement distancing themselves from the charity. The statement flatly denied that either Eric or Donald Jr. Trump had any involvement with the Opening Day Foundation, nor had they actually approved any plans to make good on the offers presented by the charity.
This was no fluke. The Opening Day Foundation offerings were very specific and included both hunting and fishing trips with the Trump men. Speaking to the media, Trump spokesperson Hope Hicks said, “The Opening Day event and details that have been reported are merely initial concepts that have not been approved or pursued by the Trump family… Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are avid outdoorsmen and supporters of conservation efforts, which align with the goals of this event, however, they are not involved in any capacity.”
It’s quite a well-balanced statement, really. While properly distancing themselves from the event, the Trump sons have protected their father from what could have become a “pay for play” problem, the very sort of mess he repeatedly accused Hillary Clinton of during the campaign. Plus, the guys came out strongly in support of the goals of the charity, putting arm’s length without actually coming down on the group for putting the offer out there.
But, of course, there’s more to the story. When media groups researched the charity a bit, they did find a direct connection between the Trump sons and the group. In fact, both Donald Jr. and Eric are listed as members of the organization’s board of directors on the certificate of formation. Other board members include Gentry Beach and Tom Hicks Jr, close friends of the Trump family. So, maybe there’s some smoke to this fire.
While the president enjoys some latitude on the relationship restrictions that are leveled on other government offices and officers, members of his transition team and executive team do not enjoy the same protections from apparent conflicts of interest. At this point, the issue could go a lot of directions. Either it could just die away in the next news cycle, it could create an air of illegitimacy in the charity, or it could force the Trumps to put some real distance between themselves and the group.
One thing’s for sure, since making the papers, the literal “pay for play” trips with Trump’s kids will have to go.
David Milberg is a credit analyst in NYC.
