Trump sons to launch real estate project in India

President Trump’s sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump will head to India in the coming weeks to launch two residential projects for the Trump Organization despite concerns over the president’s potential conflicts of interest with foreign governments.

The Washington Post reported Saturday that this latest deed was signed before the Trump Organization’s pledge to avoid new foreign dealings during Trump’s time in the White House.

The two projects, a Trump-branded tower in Kolkata and apartments in the capital city of New Delhi, join three other active Trump Organization projects in the country.

In a statement to the Post, the Trump Organization boasted of the strength of the company’s existing India investments.

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“We are long term, extremely bullish on India,” the Trump Organization said in an email. “The success of our existing projects and the strong inquiries that the teams are seeing from upcoming projects even before launch has been incredible. We are optimistic about the future and very proud of our existing presence in the market.”

The pending launches are evidence that the Trump Organization’s “no new foreign deal” pledge does not extend to projects that were begun or considered before Trump took office in January.

Critics of the Trump administration say these deals risk major conflicts of interest for the president. Richard Painter, a former ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush, said that Trump risks exposing himself to potential corruption probes.

“A company owned by the president of the United States shouldn’t be risking potential corruption investigations and working with foreign government officials who may be corrupt,” Painter told the Post. “They shouldn’t be trying to do all these deals all over the world. It just isn’t working.”

In May, it was reported that Trump has gone back on his pledge to donate profits earned from foreign governments to the U.S. Treasury in an effort to avoid conflicts of interest. NBC News reported that Trump hotels were not tracking all possible payments from foreign governments, despite Trump’s promise.

The Constitution’s emoluments clause prohibits the president from receiving foreign gifts. Trump did not divest his assets after being elected, and instead put his business empire into a trust controlled by his two sons.