President-elect Donald Trump's "vast real-estate empire" is "neither vast nor an empire," Bloomberg View editor Timothy O'Brien argued in a column published Thursday. Instead, O'Brien says, the Trump Organization is more akin to a "family-owned boutique business" — which would really make it quite simple for Trump to extricate himself from the growing web of conflicts of interest, should he choose to do so.
If Trump is serious about his promise tweeted Wednesday to leave his "great business in total," O'Brien has the easy, breezy, two-step process already outlined:
Conflicts surrounding the Trump Organization could be addressed by 1) turning over the company's licensing deals to a third party (or selling them) and 2) selling 12 golf courses, two hotels, one commercial building, one resort, some retail and commercial space, and liquidating a handful of hotel and real estate partnerships. [Timothy O'Brien, via Bloomberg View]
No word yet on whether Trump has responded to O'Brien's claims with evidence circled in gold Sharpie that his business — like his hands — certainly isn't tiny. You can read the entirety of O'Brien's argument at Bloomberg View.
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