Donald Trump isn't serious about giving up his business, will hand it off to his kids

If you thought the president-elect would do everything he could to avoid a conflict of interest, you were wrong

By Matthew Rozsa

Staff Writer

Published December 8, 2016 1:19PM (EST)

President-elect Donald Trump waves to visitors in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (AP)
President-elect Donald Trump waves to visitors in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) (AP)

President-elect Donald Trump does not plan on divesting himself from his business empire.

Although Trump's two eldest sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, are going to take over operational responsibility for his real estate businesses, Trump himself plans on keeping a stake in them, according to a report on Wednesday by The New York Times.

Ivanka Trump, Trump's eldest daughter and one of his closest advisers, will reportedly take a leave of absence from the Trump Organization. She's reportedly been house shopping in Washington D.C., and could take an active but unofficial role in the administration.

The New York Times also reported that the Trumps are exploring a "legal structure" which would allow him and his daughter to be separated from the company without appearing to have a conflict of interest, although no details have been revealed about what they have in mind.

Last month, Trump promised to hold a news conference on Dec. 15 to smooth out those details.


By Matthew Rozsa

Matthew Rozsa is a professional writer whose work has appeared in multiple national media outlets since 2012 and exclusively at Salon since 2016. He received a Master's Degree in History from Rutgers-Newark in 2012, was a guest on Fox Business in 2019, repeatedly warned of Trump's impending refusal to concede during the 2020 election, spoke at the Commonwealth Club of California in 2021, was awarded a science journalism fellowship from the Metcalf Institute in 2022 and appeared on NPR in 2023. His diverse interests are reflected in his interviews including: President Jimmy Carter (1977-1981), Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak (1999-2001), animal scientist and autism activist Temple Grandin, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (1997-2001), director Jason Reitman ("The Front Runner"), inventor Ernő Rubik, comedian Bill Burr ("F Is for Family"), novelist James Patterson ("The President's Daughter"), epidemiologist Monica Gandhi, theoretical cosmologist Janna Levin, voice actor Rob Paulsen ("Animaniacs"), mRNA vaccine pioneer Katalin Karikó, philosopher of science Vinciane Despret, actor George Takei ("Star Trek"), climatologist Michael E. Mann, World War II historian Joshua Levine (consultant to "Dunkirk"), Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (2013-present), dog cognition researcher Alexandra Horowitz, Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson (2012, 2016), comedian and writer Larry Charles ("Seinfeld"), seismologist John Vidale, Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Lieberman (2000), Ambassador Michael McFaul (2012-2014), economist Richard Wolff, director Kevin Greutert ("Saw VI"), model Liskula Cohen, actor Rodger Bumpass ("SpongeBob Squarepants"), Senator John Hickenlooper (2021-present), Senator Martin Heinrich (2013-present), Egyptologist Richard Parkinson, Rep. Eric Swalwell (2013-present), Fox News host Tucker Carlson, actor R. J. Mitte ("Breaking Bad"), theoretical physicist Avi Loeb, biologist and genomics entrepreneur William Haseltine, comedian David Cross ("Scary Movie 2"), linguistics consultant Paul Frommer ("Avatar"), Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (2007-2015), computer engineer and Internet co-inventor Leonard Kleinrock and right-wing insurrectionist Roger Stone.

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Conflict Of Interest Donald Trump Ivanka Trump