Trump’s Son, Fearing ‘Quagmire,’ to Stop Soliciting for Charity
WASHINGTON — Eric Trump said on Wednesday that he had decided to stop directly soliciting contributions for his charitable foundation, which supports causes like the fight against childhood cancer, because he now recognizes that his status as the president-elect’s son means that donors could try to use him to gain access to his father.
“As unfortunate as it is, I understand the quagmire,” Mr. Trump said in an interview Wednesday evening. “You do a good thing that backfires.”
His move followed public criticism of an online auction that the Eric Trump Foundation had sponsored offering a chance to have coffee with his sister Ivanka. The criticism intensified over the weekend after an invitation was drafted offering a hunting trip with Eric Trump or his brother Donald Jr. in exchange for donations of $500,000 or $1 million to a new charity that friends of Eric Trump had created this month with his apparent consent, according to legal documents.
Ethics experts had begun to compare Eric Trump’s charitable campaigns to efforts by the Clinton Foundation, which was a relentless target of criticism by President-elect Donald J. Trump during his campaign. Mr. Trump argued that Hillary Clinton had provided favors to donors while she served as secretary of state, an accusation she called baseless. The president-elect has also faced calls from ethics experts to separate himself from his business empire.
Associates of Eric Trump said he had made the decision not to solicit contributions with deep regret. He has been raising money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Tennessee since he was 21, helping deliver, he said, more than $15 million to the institution, which offers free care to needy children. (Tax records filed by his foundation show a total of at least $6.5 million between 2008 and 2014, although additional contributions by affiliated groups might bring that total higher, and the records do not show money given since)
The fate of the foundation remains unclear, family members said. Among the options are to shut it down or rename it, or to distance Eric Trump in some other way from any fund-raising efforts.
For Mr. Trump, 32, charitable work has long been a point of pride, and in a statement issued to The New York Times on Wednesday evening, the Trump family said curing cancer “will continue to be a lifelong mission” for him.
“Eric remains committed to raising awareness and will continue to advocate for finding a cure for childhood cancer,” it said.
Norm Eisen, a former Obama White House ethics lawyer, and Richard W. Painter, an ethics lawyer in the administration of George W. Bush — who have been among the Trump family’s most vocal critics — both praised the move.
“I applaud it,” Mr. Eisen said Wednesday. “I do think there has been a baptism of fire for all of the members of the Trump family, and there are some signs that they are responding appropriately to criticism.”
Added Mr. Painter: “I don’t think President Trump or the children are really used to the idea that he will be president and the public scrutiny that results. They are realizing it now.”
But Mr. Eisen and Mr. Painter said the Trump family must still resolve major outstanding conflicts involving the president-elect’s business operations — and ensure that the children of Mr. Trump who will be running his business no longer participate in any government-related meetings. Eric Trump has returned full time in recent weeks to the Trump Organization, which he intends to help run after his father enters the White House.
“Now they have to resolve the big issue: The father has to divorce himself from his conflict by appointing an independent trustee for his businesses,” Mr. Eisen said. Mr. Trump recently postponed a news conference during which he was supposed to address the concerns about the businesses.
The auction for coffee with Ms. Trump was terminated on Friday, after The Times reported that several of the highest bidders had said in interviews that they had entered the competition in hopes of using her as a way to get a message to her father on issues such as immigration and election fraud.
In addition, Eric Trump and his brother Donald have now said they will no longer participate in the post-inauguration charitable hunting trip. Details about the charity behind the event were first reported by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit journalism outfit.
But Eric Trump went further on Wednesday evening, saying he realized his fund-raising could cause his family problems while his father is in the White House.
“I get that people will try to use anything they can for their own interests,” Mr. Trump said. “The reality is, I’ve been raising money for sick kids far longer than” his father has been a politician.
Like children of past presidents, the Trumps are discovering the downsides and restrictions that come with having a father in the Oval Office. But there has never been a case of personal wealth as extensive as that of the Trump family.
On Wednesday evening, Eric Trump said he had begun raising money for children’s illnesses because his last name put him in a unique position to bring in large sums. Money that the Eric Trump Foundation — which has just one employee — has raised over the past decade paid to build a new intensive care unit at St. Jude’s. The unit, which is named for him, opened in February 2015. Mr. Trump has made a $20 million, 10-year commitment to St. Jude’s. About $5 million is outstanding, money that could be raised via direct donations from hotel guests or players at family golf courses, under the proposed plan.
The Trump family, through its hotels, may still accept smaller donations sent directly to St. Jude’s, or other causes, a family member said. But it will no longer first send the money to a family-controlled charity.
The Trump Organization has not made any public statements about the fate of the Trump Foundation, a separate charity run by the president-elect, that also took outside donations and has been criticized for using money meant for charity to benefit principals of the Trump Organization. A spokeswoman for the president-elect did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday night.
P.C: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/21/us/politics/eric-trump-charity.html
Post a Comment