Questions loom about conflicts of interest in second Trump term
CNN
In the two months since the election, President-elect Donald Trump has urged his nearly 8.5 million followers on Truth Social to buy limited edition guitars that bear his signature and Trump-themed fragrances that “represent winning.”
In the two months since the election, President-elect Donald Trump has urged his nearly 8.5 million followers on Truth Social to buy limited edition guitars that bear his signature and Trump-themed fragrances that “represent winning.” A $899 gold-plated inauguration edition was recently added to the line of Trump watches he first launched this summer and his nascent sneaker brand is now offering footwear featuring a state-by-state map of his electoral victory. The post-election sales pitches illustrate just how closely Trump’s personal business interests are entwined with his politics. But less than two weeks from taking the oath of office, the Republican billionaire and the Trump Organization have not offered details to the public on how precisely they intend to wall off those varied interests – which range from hotels, golf clubs and licensing deals to a new cryptocurrency venture – from his job as president. So far, Trump has transferred his shares in Truth Social’s parent company into a longstanding trust of which he is the sole beneficiary, according to recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. His oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is the trustee. Ethics experts say those steps fall well short of the blind trusts and divestitures from private business interests that other presidents have used to avoid ethical conflicts with their job. And there are signs that the Trump Organization will erect fewer limits on its activity than it did during Trump’s first four years in the White House. His son, Eric Trump – who oversees the company day-to-day – has said the company will continue to pursue business opportunities overseas, dropping a self-imposed prohibition on foreign deals that the company said was in place during the first term. The marketing activity around Donald Trump’s return to the White House “indicates that there is clearly a focus on monetizing the presidency,” said Kedric Payne, senior director of ethics at the Campaign Legal Center watchdog group. “The concern is that he will now use the presidency to benefit himself and his family beyond what is imaginable.”
A grand jury voted against indicting New York Attorney General Letitia James after being asked to look at the mortgage fraud case against her a second time, according to multiple people familiar with the development Thursday.
National Guard troops deployed to Washington, DC, can remain there for now, after a federal appeals court on Thursday temporarily froze a judge’s ruling that would have soon required them to leave the city’s streets.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s bad week just got worse. That’s after the long-awaited release Thursday of an inspector general’s report on his sharing of highly sensitive military attack plans on the unclassified app Signal earlier this year.
President Donald Trump has hired a new architect for the White House ballroom amid disputes between the president and his architect originally contracted to complete the project, several sources have told CNN.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.
If nothing else, the controversy over the Trump administration’s second strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean has surfaced a long-overdue debate about its already legally dubious first strikes.
Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.
Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.
Young Americans are “a generation under profound strain” with little confidence in institutions and widespread economic concerns, according to a Harvard Institute of Politics survey of adults younger than 30 released Thursday.
As lawmakers demand answers over reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors during an attacked on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a career Navy SEAL who has spent most of his 30 years of military experience in special operations will be responsible for providing them.
The murder trial of Brian Walshe, who is accused of killing and dismembering his wife in 2023 continues. Follow for live updates.
The FBI arrested a person Thursday who investigators believe planted pipe bombs near the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters the night before the 2021 US Capitol riot.
Lawyers for the New York attorney general’s office are expected to appear in federal court in Albany on Thursday to try to disqualify a US attorney from investigating the state’s civil case against President Donald Trump.