Trump, his inner circle, and conflict of interest
The New York Times (NYT), has recently provided an in depth review of transactions regarding crypto currencies and computer chips, involving Mr. Witkoff, President Trump’s Middle East envoy, and Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who manages the Emirati’s sovereign fund. Over time they had become both diplomatic allies and business partners, enriching the president, his family and his inner circle. “At the heart of their relationship are two multibillion-dollar deals. One involved a crypto company founded by the Witkoff and the Trump families that benefited both financially. The other involved a sale of valuable computer chips that benefited the Emirates economically.” These deals blurred the lines between personal and government business and raised questions about whether U.S. interests were served. Additionally, the NYT “found that the agreements were intertwined in ways that have not been previously reported and that they provoked concerns about conflicts of interest even from staff members in the Trump administration.” Essentially, what the NYT found is that there was significant conflicts of interest, as negotiating the deals were regarding areas that the negotiators have significant personal financial interests.
Why should we care? This is important as a reminder that conflict of interest is essential to the work of government. As we all know, to have any confidence in our elected or appointed officials, they must not be perceived or seen to benefit financially from their positions. This is clearly not the situation at present at the senior levels of government and yet, there also seems to be little being done to address this situation. As this comes from a country, which only one year ago, was a leader in anti-corruption, this should be a warning to the world that when systems are ignored or hollowed out, we should all worry and see what can be done to move in the right direction. Unfortunately, this is new for the United States, and as such, the US will need to develop the tools to fight these types of corruption.
Link:
https://newrepublic.com/post/200486/trump-corruption-scandal-crypto-uae-deal