United States President-elect Donald Trump’s meeting with Indian entrepreneurs about a proposal to construct a Trump-branded luxury apartment building in South Mumbai has drawn criticism, The New York Times reported on Sunday. His negotiations with Indian businessmen Atul Chordia, Sagar Chordia and Kalpesh Mehta has reportedly raised concerns over how Trump will avoid conflicts of interest with his roles as US president and entrepreneur. However, Trump organisation spokesperson Breanna Butler said “It was not a formal meeting of any kind.”
Butler said the Trump family was working on ways to formally separate the president-elect’s functioning from his family’s business. She said the construction will comply with all “applicable rules and regulations.”
The executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, Noah Bookbinder, said the “meeting at Trump Tower was inappropriate even if there had not been conversation about business. Donald Trump’s children and son-in-law have been deeply involved in the transition and selecting who will be part of his administration,” The Times reported.
Questions were also raised about the presence of international diplomats at a Trump International Hotel event in Washington after the election, The Washington Post reported.
The Republican entrepreneur has five luxury projects in India including a Trump Tower, a 46-apartment block with Panchshil Realty in Pune, and an under-construction 300-apartment project in Mumbai’s Lower Parel with the Lodha Group, The Economic Times reported.
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