Conflicts of Interest
The Oxford Dictionary defines a conflict of interest as "a situation in which the concerns or aims of two different parties are incompatible" or "a situation in which a person is in a position to derive personal benefit from actions or decisions made in their official capacity."
Trump has many businesses, investments, and business relationships that create conflicts of interest for him as president. He has refused to eliminate those financial entanglements. He has also refused to disclose his taxes, as all modern presidents and presidential candidates have done. This makes it impossible to know whether actions he is taking as president are being done in service of the U.S., or for his own financial gain (or the gain of those close to him, such as his family).
The Constitution has a provision known as the Emoluments Clause, which bans payments from foreign powers. This was intended by the framers to prevent U.S. officials from being corrupted by gifts or payments. Trump's businesses receive payments from foreign powers.
See also Corruption.
Timeline
2016.06.26 One month before Election Day, Jared Kushner’s real estate company finalized a $285 million loan as part of a refinancing package for its property near Times Square in Manhattan, just as the lender - Deutsche Bank - was working to settle money laundering cases against them, which then were settled shortly thereafter. washingtonpost.com (See also Jared Kushner, 2016 Election, Corruption) 2017.06.15 A recent NSA memo documents a phone call in which Trump pressured agency chief Admiral Mike Rogers to state publicly that there is no evidence of collusion between his campaign and Russia. newsweek.com (See also Corruption, Legal Activity, Russian Meddling in Election, Trump Relationship with Russia) 2017.06.15 Paul Manafort is at the center of an FBI investigation into ties between Trump’s team and the Russians, but that hasn’t stopped him from doing business with international figures and companies, partly by claiming continued access to Trump. politico.com (See also Corruption, Russia, Trump Relationship with Russia, Legal Activity, China, Foreign Policy) 2017.06.16 By rolling back Obama-era policies that allowed more private business investment in Cuba, Trump undermines a growth area for his hotel and resort competitors who have raced in recent years to establish a foothold in a lucrative new market. washingtonpost.com (See also Foreign Policy, Eric Trump, Cuba) 2017.06.17 In the feud among nations in the Persian Gulf, Trump has supported those with which he does business, criticizing Qatar, differing sharply from the positions of the Pentagon and State Department. nytimes.com (See also Corruption, Saudi Arabia, Foreign Policy, Rex Tillerson, Department of State) 2017.06.20 Trump’s budget calls for sharply reducing funding for programs that shelter the poor and combat homelessness — with a notable exception: It leaves intact a type of federal housing subsidy that is paid directly to private landlords like Trump himself. washingtonpost.com (See also Department of Housing and Urban Development, Housing) 2017.06.21 The Trump International Hotel will be the location of a June 28 major-donor event, raising ethics questions as Turmp uses his presidency and candidacy to enrich himself. apnews.com (See also Unpresidential Behavior) 2017.06.27 A consulting firm led by Paul Manafort, retroactively filed forms Tuesday showing that his firm received $17.1 million over two years from a political party that dominated Ukraine before its leader fled to Russia in 2014. washingtonpost.com (See also Corruption, Russia, Trump Relationship with Russia, 2016 Campaign, Russian Meddling in Election) 2017.06.27 Trump lawyer's firm steered tens of millions of dollars from Christian donations to his family members. theguardian.com (See also Legal Activity, Corruption) 2017.06.29 The Trump administration has appointed an activist who led a campaign to restrict bathroom access for transgender students to the office of Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment in the US Agency for International Development. buzzfeed.com (See also LGBTQIA, Trump Cabinet) 2017.07.10 A few months before Trump encouraged Saudi Arabia and others to blockade Qatar, the real estate business owned by the family of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, sought, and failed to get, a substantial investment from one of the Gulf State country’s wealthiest and most politically influential figures. bloomberg.com (See also Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jared Kushner) 2017.07.10 Trump’s advisers recruited two businessmen who profited from military contracting to devise alternatives to the Pentagon’s plan to send thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan. nytimes.com (See also Steve Bannon, Jared Kushner, James Mattis, Department of Defense, Afghanistan, H.R. McMaster) 2017.07.11 Trump is aggressively scaling back government regulations out of public view and often by political appointees with deep industry ties and potential conflicts. propublica.org (See also Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Education, Corruption) 2017.07.12 The State Department spent more than $15,000 to book 19 rooms at the new Trump hotel in Vancouver when members of Trump’s family headlined the grand opening of the tower in late February. washingtonpost.com (See also Corruption) 2017.07.19 The U.S. government is paying more than $130,000 a month to lease space in Trump Tower for the military office that supports the White House, even though Donald Trump hasn’t spent a night at the New York skyscraper since becoming president. wsj.com 2017.07.20 Trump can legally continue to funnel funds from donors back into his own businesses, which has amounted to about $600,000 spent at Trump-owned properties in just the first six months of his presidency. wired.com (See also Trump Business) 2017.07.20 Trump personally met with Jessie Liu, the current deputy general counsel for the Treasury Department and who Trump tapped to be the next US attorney for the District of Columbia -- a move that sharply departs from past practice and is at odds with the understood custom of insulating US attorneys from political influence. cnn.com (See also Legal Issues, Unprecedented Actions) 2017.07.21 Jared Kushner's status as a top aide to President Donald Trump was used to lure Chinese investors to his family's New Jersey development, even after his family's company apologized for mentioning his name during a sales pitch in May. cnn.com (See also Jared Kushner, China) 2017.07.21 Some of President Trump’s lawyers are exploring ways to limit or undercut special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia investigation, building a case against what they allege are his conflicts of interest and discussing the president’s authority to grant pardons to aides, family members and even himself. washingtonpost.com (See also Unprecedented Actions, Legal Activity, Trump Relationship with Russia) 2017.08.02 Kushner Cos., the New York property development business owned by the family of White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, has been subpoenaed by New York federal prosecutors regarding its use of an investment-for-immigration program, according to people familiar with the matter. wsj.com (See also Legal Activity, Jared Kushner) 2017.08.03 The Secret Service has vacated its command post inside Trump Tower in Manhattan following a dispute between the government and President Trump’s company over the terms of a lease for the space. washingtonpost.com (See also Unprecedented Actions, The Trump Organization) 2017.08.04 Investigators working for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, recently asked the White House for documents related to the former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn, and have questioned witnesses about whether he was secretly paid by the Turkish government during the final months of the presidential campaign. nytimes.com (See also Michael Flynn, Corruption, 2016 Campaign) 2017.08.07 Since Trump’s election, the Trump International Hotel has emerged as a Republican Party power center - a profit-making venture with the name of the U.S. president in its gold signage, where every cup of coffee served, every fundraiser scheduled, every filet mignon ordered feeds the revenue of Trump's private business. washingtonpost.com (See also Corruption) 2017.08.07 When Trump ordered federal agencies to form teams to dismantle government regulations, those teams often turned to people with deep industry ties. nytimes.com (See also Assaults on Government, Corruption) 2017.08.10 Donald Trump’s company turned a $1.97 million profit at its opulent Trump International Hotel so far in 2017, dramatically beating its expectations and giving the first hard numbers to critics who charge that Trump is profiting from his presidency. washingtonpost.com (See also Trump Business, The Trump Organization)
Further research
See also