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Politico | Trump’s luxury resorts in Indonesia collide with diplomacy in South Korea
- The US president’s recent meeting with the South Korean leader is the latest example of blurred lines between his official work and business interests
- His ongoing deals, such as those in Indonesia, have spurred questions about whether his actions are based on what’s best for the country or what’s best for his company
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This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Anita Kumar on politico.com on July 01, 2019.
While visiting South Korea over the weekend, President Donald Trump tried to strike a deal with President Moon Jae-in to get more companies to invest in the United States.
But even as he pushed American interests, a partner of Trump’s namesake company is aggressively expanding plans to build luxury Trump-branded resorts in Indonesia – and the project involves a construction company partly owned by the South Korean government.
It’s not clear whether Trump brought up the Indonesia projects during his talks with Moon. But the meeting represented the latest example of the blurred lines between Trump’s official diplomatic work and his business interests.
The expansion of the project that now has the South Korean government attached to it seems to run afoul – at least in spirit – of Trump’s pledge that the Trump Organisation will not enter into any new foreign deals while in office.
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