New Delhi (Reuters): US President Donald Trump’s elder son described India as an important market for The Trump Organization but said the global company will lose out on new deals because of self-imposed restrictions put in place by his father since he took office.
Donald Trump Jr.’s comments, at the start of a trip to woo buyers for his luxury residential projects in several Indian cities, appeared aimed at blunting criticism that there could be possible conflict of interest in pushing the Trump brand name.
Trump Jr. said new business would take a hit in India.
“Few years ago, I said it would become our largest (market) because I really believed in the market... I think it will continue to be the same when I am able to get back in the market and focus on the business side, on new deals again in the future, once my father is out of office,” Trump Jr. told television channel CNBC-TV18 late on Tuesday.
Shortly before taking office last year, Trump Sr. said he would hand off control of his business empire, which includes luxury homes and hotels across the world, to his sons Donald and Eric, and move his assets into a trust to help ensure that he would not consciously take actions as president that would benefit him personally.
Many government and private ethics watchdogs said he should have gone further, divesting himself of assets that could cause a conflict of interest. His partners in India meanwhile are playing up the Trump brand.
In the days leading up to Trump Jr.’s visit, one of its development partners in Gurgaon, near the capital of New Delhi, launched an advertising campaign on the front page of India’s most widely circulated newspapers to lure buyers.
Book your Trump Towers’ residence before Feb 22 and join Mr Donald Trump Jr. for a “conversation and dinner” on Feb 23, the advertisement said, luring buyers with a chance to rub shoulders with the president’s family.
