Trust documents show Trump retains close ties to his businesses

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump
(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Documents obtained by The New York Times show President Trump's business empire, held in a trust managed by his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, can be put back under the president's direct control "at any time" of his choosing. The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust is linked to President Trump's Social Security number alone for federal tax purposes, and its assets are held for his "exclusive benefit."

Given these terms, it is unclear whether the Trump Organization will be able to retain occupancy on the Old Post Office building in Washington, the site of the latest Trump hotel, because the lease prohibits the building's rental by an elected official.

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.