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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Politics
Samuel Osborne

Donald Trump's family say they will continue with foreign deals featuring Trump Organisation properties

Donald Trump's sons have said they will continue with foreign deals featuring Trump Organisation properties while their father serves as president.

Despite ongoing pressure, Mr Trump has not sold any of his assets and instead signed over control of his company's day-to-day operations to his two sons, raising concerns over conflicts of interest. 

While the Trump Organisation pledged it would not make any new foreign deals for the duration of Mr Trump's presidency, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr said the company will push ahead with dozens of projects that were underway before the inauguration. 

In an interview with the New York Times, Eric defended the company against controversy around him travelling to the Dominican Republic to restart a resort project there which began in 2007 but stalled during the financial crisis.

Responding to criticism it was a new deal, Eric said: “That doesn’t mean the deal doesn’t continue to exist."

The brothers said the organisation had dropped a host of proposed overseas projects, including offices, hotels and Trump Towers in Argentina, Brazil, Azerbaijan, Georgia and India.

“I was the first person to raise my hand and say you should not do certain deals, as I understood the optics, as you can’t build the tallest building in Tel Aviv and try to negotiate peace in the Middle East,” Eric told the paper.

However the company will continue with projects underway before Mr Trump's inauguration, the brothers said.

The projects include resorts and Trump Towers in Indonesia, India and Uruguay, as well as a second golf club in Dubai.

Questions were raised soon after Mr Trump's inauguration at the mention of no new foreign deals in the company's self-imposed rules, as it confirmed plans to expand its golf course in Aberdeen.

A spokeswoman for the resort said the move was part of an expansion plan that had been agreed years ago.

Such plans raise concerns the Trump Organisation will seize on any previous involvements and turn them into deals while dodging the company's commitment to avoid new foreign deals.

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