Donald Trump has considerable assets. He is a billionaire worth (according to Forbes) $4.5 billion. He is the 324th wealthiest man in the world and the 113th in the US. The Trump Organisation has interests in real estate, construction, hospitality, entertainment, publishing, media, retail, financial services and food and beverages, among others.

In politics he is a latecomer. At 70 he faced an uphill struggle throughout the primaries having to contend against 17 other hopefuls and with the bulk of the popular media against him. Some of the leaders in the Republican Party, including previous presidential candidates like John McCain and Mitt Romney and the influential speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, disapproved of his candidacy.

His methods were unorthodox from the start: attacking all those who opposed him in and out of the party with an asperity and venom rarely seen in previous campaigns. His approach was often crude and unconventional. He had an instantaneous, ready-made reply for all his critics, and in his attacks, he went straight for the jugular, leaving his opponents breathless and disarmed.

In the end, despite all the odds and adverse polls against him, he won the election against Hilary Clinton, the more favoured Democratic candidate. He gained a majority of the Electoral College but received fewer popular votes than Clinton nationwide by as much as 2.8 million – an unprecedented margin.

As president-elect, Trump has initiated his search and choices for a Cabinet. Some names touted were unsurprising, but others were completely unexpected. What stands out so far is that quite a number of those mentioned, or already nominated, are either millionaires or billionaires.

Few of these have political experience.  Most of them occupy very high positions in their respective areas of concern and have considerable experience in running huge business concerns but are otherwise completely out of touch with the problems of the man in the street.

It is very difficult to imagine how Trump can divest himself of all his many interests while in office

Trump has moderated some of his most outrageous statements in the pre-election period, giving thus some hope to people in the US and outside that he will in practice be a pragmatic leader and one who will seek compromise rather than division.

In doing so, however, Trump has already signalled a strong departure from his election campaign rhetoric when he has brazenly profited from the popular anti-establishment card.

Newsweek reports that given Trump’s extensive business dealings he will, as president of the largest economy in the world, be very vulnerable to accusations of conflict of interest. The quality of the men he is surrounding himself with in the Cabinet (and his main advisers) will only increase this susceptibility and public perception.

Trump has huge business interests in the US and worldwide. During the transition period, he has been making statements that radically depart from established US policy on which there has always been political consensus between the parties. He even questioned the US’s sacred role in NATO, saying that Washington can no longer afford its commitment with the military alliance.

Family means a lot to Trump. His children Ivanka, Donald, Eric and Tiffany are intimately involved in the transition period and are not expected to give way once he is installed in the White House. The Trump name features prominently in many of his business ventures.

We see it in the Trump Organisation, Trump Tower in New York, Trump Tower in the Philippines, Trump Plaza of Palm Beach, Trump Taj Mahal and Trump Castle in Atlantic City, Trump golf courses, Trump hotels and Trump casinos. He flaunts the Trump name without shame.

Trump’s telephone call to the Taiwanese President on December 2 is symptomatic of the way he intends to run things. He did not consult the State Department before he made the call.

The issue is a very delicate one, and he handled it like a bull in a China shop.

Through that call, Trump reversed the policy followed by all presidents since Richard Nixon normalised relations with China in the 1970s. Other related problems are, firstly, presidents-elect are not supposed to interfere in foreign policy; secondly, allegations have been made that the telephone call’s main purpose was family interests; thirdly, attacking China, the second most important economy in the world, through Taiwan (a hugely sensitive issue for China) is suicidal, with possible serious repercussions for Sino-American relations.

It is very difficult to imagine how Trump can divest himself of all his many interests while in office. If, as seems likely, he passed them on as blind trusts to his children, it would quickly be perceived as a whitewash. The real arbitrator of the family business would still be Donald Trump, the US president, even if he stays behind the scenes.

Trump would thereby be opening himself to possible manipulation by foreign countries. The uncompromising principle that foreign nations cannot be allowed to hold sway over a president dates back to the founding fathers of the Constitution.

Trump would be treading on dangerous ground if he decided to follow this hazardous route, providing thereby for an extremely shaky presidency.

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