Revised Trust Allows Donald Trump to Withdraw Funds Without Public Disclosure
President Donald Trump can draw money from his business empire as its trustees see fit without disclosing it publicly, according to a revised version of his trust, a change that ethics experts say blurs the lines between the Trump Organization and his administration.
.. But the president’s son Eric, who serves as an adviser to the trust though not a trustee, told Forbes in an interview last month that he would provide periodic updates to his father on “the bottom line, profitability reports and stuff like that.”
When the president announced his plan to place his assets in a trust in January, he said his sons would run his business and that “they’re not going to discuss it with me.”
.. Mar-a-Lago in recent months doubled its initiation fee to $200,000, and Mr. Trump plans to bring Chinese leader Xi Jinping there for meetings this weekend.
.. Mr. Trump said during the campaign he was worth $10 billion; A financial disclosure he released during the presidential campaign showed he held assets valued between $1.5 billion and $2.1 billion
.. A Wall Street Journal analysis of the president’s finances last year showed Mr. Trump assets were relatively illiquid.
.. Mr. Spicer said the president had donated his first-quarter salary—$78,333—to the National Park Service, fulfilling thus far a campaign pledge not to accept a paycheck as president. Mr. Trump has proposed slashing 1,500 times that amount from the agency’s funding for offices including the National Park Service.