Thread: President of the US of A

Originally Posted by Jimbo

So just on a technical note, maybe. If someone like Trump (an active businessman with active businesses) wins the presidency are they required to step down from those businesses or whatever?

James.

No, elected officials are not. A very good recent example is Berlusconi of Italy and all the problems that fell from his time in office. Essentially, any person running for office can continue to run their businesses from office if they choose to. There is always the risk of the appearance of impropriety and the political fallout (hearings etc) from that effort.

Employees, not elected, of the executive branch are supposed to eliminate any conflicts of interest. There are examples of some elected officials using blind trusts for their assets to show that they do not have conflicts of interest, but this is not used by any where near a majority of elected office holders.