Trump’s Business Partner Will Be Manila’s Man in Washington

Robert Kelner is quoted in a Bloomberg article regarding President-elect Donald Trump’s business ties to Jose E.B. Antonio, chief executive and controlling stakeholder of Century Properties and special government envoy to the U.S. for Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, and the potential for conflicts of interest stemming from this relationship. According to Kelner, the U.S. Constitution bars government officials, including presidents, from taking payments or gifts from foreign governments or profiting from a company tied to a foreign government -- but it’s unlikely that Trump’s arrangement with Antonio would violate that provision. “Unless the foreign government was passing funds through that company to Donald Trump, I don’t think the emoluments clause would be implicated -- it’s extremely remote,” he says.