美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Business Deals In Southeast Asia Raise Conflict Of Interest Concerns（在线收听）

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President-elect Donald Trump has promised to step back from his business interests when he takes office. He says he will let his two adult sons take the helm and that he won't make any new deals while he is president. But there are still many ongoing projects that are causing concerns about conflicts of interest. Here's NPR's Jackie Northam.

JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE: Trump has some 500 business interests spread across about 20 countries. He's unwinding some of those deals as Inauguration Day approaches. But many others are moving forward. Josh Kurlantzick, a Southeast Asia specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations, says most of the projects are licensing deals.

JOSH KURLANTZICK: They pay Trump a fee. And someone builds a resort. And they slap his name on it. So it's not like he's got his own skin in the game or is possibly going to be involved in shaping the resorts.

NORTHAM: Still, Kurlantzick and others say any involvement by Trump in a project, even if it's just his name, can create a huge conflict of interest, complicating any national security, foreign policy or economic concerns the U.S. has with a particular country. Take for example a $150 million project in the Philippines capital, Manila, for which Trump receives up to $5 million for the use of his name.

Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte has raised human-rights concerns with a brutal anti-drug campaign that has left more than 6,000 people dead since he took office in June. Robert Manning is a former National Intelligence Council official now with the Atlantic Council.

ROBERT MANNING: I think Trump has been reluctant to make any negative criticisms about the Duterte's human-rights policies. Whether his business interests are a factor in that - I don't know how you ascertain that. I think it would certainly give him a motivation.

NORTHAM: To further complicate things, Duterte recently named Trump's main business partner in the Manila Trump Tower deal as the Philippine special envoy to the U.S. on trade and economic policy, Jose Antonio. Manning said it wouldn't be illegal for Trump to interact with Antonio in his capacity as a trade representative. But...

MANNING: It's a sticky question of deciding where national interests stop and business interests begin and vice versa.

NORTHAM: Trump has promised to keep his hands off his business empire while president. But Kurlantzick says his sons will have to build up strong relations with powerful people to help keep overseas projects moving, which could be problematic. Kurlantzick uses as an example Indonesia, where the Trump organization is involved in two resort projects. One of the business partners there was a major politician, Setya Novanto. Kurlantzick says he had to step down in 2015 after being accused of corruption.

KURLANTZICK: He briefly gave up his post, which is like the equivalent of Paul Ryan last year because he was caught on audio trying to get a $4 billion payment from an American mining company.

NORTHAM: Earlier in the year, Novanto was in New York to meet with Trump and accompany him at a news conference where Trump praised him as a great man.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DONALD TRUMP: His whole group is here to see me today. And we will do great things for the United States. Is that correct?

SETYA NOVANTO: Yes.

TRUMP: Do they like me in Indonesia?

NORTHAM: Stephen Gillers, an ethics professor at New York University Law School, says Trump needs to be careful not to erode public confidence.

STEPHEN GILLERS: What we want to make sure of is that the deal our president cuts is solely for the benefit of the United States, that there is no other interest that could be affecting his judgment.

NORTHAM: Gillers says the only way for Trump to do that is to divest himself from all his business interests when he becomes president. Jackie Northam, NPR News.

POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION: We incorrectly say that Indonesian politician Setya Novanto was a business partner of President-elect Donald Trump. In fact it was Trump's Indonesian business partner who arranged for Novanto and Trump to meet.