The New York Times is calling for President-elect Donald Trump to appoint a trustee to sell his hotels and other businesses and put the proceeds in a blind trust.
The newspaper says experts believe it is the "one action that Mr. Trump can take to assure Americans that he is working to promote only their interests rather than his own fortune or his family’s."
The Times acknowledged Trump's family has announced some steps intended to address potential conflicts of interest he could bring to the Oval Office.
"But so far, these steps fall well short of what Mr. Trump must do to protect his presidency from damaging accusations of corruption," the newspaper said in an editorial.
By selling off his businesses and putting proceeds in a blind trust operated by independent managers Trump reduces the number of problems he could be faced with, the Times says.
"…he would eliminate the many per-for-play opportunities and other forms of corruption that could be exploited by him and by corporations and foreign governments seeking to curry favor with his administration," the newspaper's editorial board says.
"To avoid the barest perception of wrongdoing, presidents from both parties going back 40 years put their assets in blind trusts or in Treasury securities and mutual funds, even though federal law didn't require them to do so. Mr. Trump seems determined to flout this standard
And it says only pressure from voters and groups who care about ethics in government "seems remotely capable of persuading Mr. Trump to agree to full divestment."
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