Trump accused of ‘influence peddling’

“What’s one of the best ways right now to crack into the Trump family inner circle? Buy a swanky condominium in India,” New York Times reported alleging Trump of ‘influence peddling’ quoting various media reports.

The matter in question is the Trump Tower which is to be built in the National Capital Region (NCR) in India. According to Pankaj Bansal, the director of one of the Indian property developers, ““About an initial 100 buyers will fly to the US where Donald Trump Jr. will host them,” and quoting Bansal, it is being widely reported in the US that Trump is trying to influence peddling.

“The glitzy project, which will rise high above Gurugram, a suburb of New Delhi, has become the latest matter to draw questions about the way the Trump family is handling its convergence of business and politics. Reports in the Indian Express last week, followed by a Washington Post article on Thursday, have brought new accusations of influence peddling,” the New York Times reported on Friday.

According to the NY Times, “Indian developers are promising to fly the first group of buyers in a new Trump Towers project to New York for an event with Donald Trump Jr., according to Indian news reports and a video on one of the developers’ websites.”

“But the Indian developers aren’t shying away from their offer to get the first buyers of these condos in front of Donald Trump Jr, President Trump’s oldest child, who helps run the family’s real estate empire,” the report further highlights.

The article also highlights a video from the website of Tribeca Developers, one of the other Indian partners, which says, “Buy a flat, meet Trump Jr!”

The ‘ethicists in the US’, New York Times reported, “have expressed concern about the conflict-of-interest issues raised by such inducements”.

Norman L. Eisen, who was the ethics counsel for President Barack Obama, told NY Times it was “outrageous that access to the Trump family is once again being sold — this time to foreign purchasers, no less.”

“This is a brazen violation of ethics best practices, but not alas a surprising one; it is of a piece with the access to the Trump family that members at domestic Trump properties get for their often steep fees,” he added.

Richard W. Painter, who was the ethics counsel for President George W. Bush, “urged the Trump children to publicly declare that they will not discuss government policy with customers.”

“They could dramatically reduce their risk if they categorically make it clear that they will not discuss U.S. government interests with anyone with whom they have an actual or prospective financial relationship,” Painter told Times.

This will be the fourth Trump Tower in India, which has more Trump branded properties than any other country outside North America, the developers told NY Times. The Trump Organization, the family’s business conglomerate, already has several real estate projects in the works in India, including a new apartment building in Kolkata.

The news release for the project, NY Times reported, which does not mention the offer of access to Donald Trump Jr, goes on about its various bells and whistles, making the project sound something like a cruise ship — with a golf course attached.

The Trump Tower in NCR has 250 apartments, costing from around ₹5 crores to more than ₹10 crores. The project is a joint venture between M3M India Pvt. Ltd, a property developer based in Gurugram, and Tribeca Developers, based in Mumbai.