Trump transition team ethics pledge appears to exclude president-elect

President-elect Donald Trump’s team submitted an ethics plan guiding the conduct of its members throughout the transition period that does not appear to include provisions for one key member of the team: the president himself.

President-elect Donald Trump’s team submitted an ethics plan guiding the conduct of its members throughout the transition period that does not appear to include provisions for one key member of the team: the president himself. “There does not appear to be a provision addressing the requirement for the president-elect to address his conflicts of interest,” said Valerie Smith Boyd, director of the Center for Presidential Transition at the nonprofit, nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service. CNN has asked the Trump transition for comment on why there is no provision addressing Trump’s potential conflicts of interest. During his first term, Trump was repeatedly criticized by ethics groups for potential conflicts of interest relating to his businesses and brands. Both Trump’s and his family’s foreign business ties have also come under intense scrutiny throughout his time in office and on the campaign trail. Still, after winning in 2016, Trump took some nominal steps toward alleviating ethical concerns before entering the White House by pledging to relinquish control of his companies and put his business holdings in a trust, which was controlled by his two sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. He has made no such assurances this time. Rather, Trump lately has added potential conflicts of interest with some of his latest business dealings. Much of his wealth these days is tied up in stock for Trump Media & Technology Group, a newly publicly traded company that owns his social media website TruthSocial. While campaigning, he hawked several new products capitalizing on his name and fame, including a line of watches, some retailing for $100,000, that he launched through an opaque licensing agreement with a company of undisclosed origins. CNN traced the business to a shopping plaza in Sheridan, Wyoming, that is the registered address for dozens of other companies.