Trump Jr. Blurs Line Between Business And Politics In India Trip

during the town hall debate at Washington University on October 9, 2016 in St Louis, Missouri. This is the second of three presidential debates scheduled prior to the November 8th election.
ST LOUIS, MO - OCTOBER 09: Donald Trump, Jr. (R) greets his father Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during the town hall debate at Washington University on October 9, 2016 in St Louis, Missouri. This is ... ST LOUIS, MO - OCTOBER 09: Donald Trump, Jr. (R) greets his father Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump during the town hall debate at Washington University on October 9, 2016 in St Louis, Missouri. This is the second of three presidential debates scheduled prior to the November 8th election. (Photo by Rick Wilking-Pool/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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While on an unofficial business trip to promote the Trump family’s real estate projects in India this week, Donald Trump Jr. plans to give a speech on foreign policy at a summit attended by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The speech, entitled “Reshaping India Pacific Ties: The New Era of Cooperation,” will be delivered at a global business summit on Friday evening, The Washington Post reported. Modi will reportedly give a speech on “Preparing India for the Future” at the same event.

Trump Jr. also plans to spend part of the trip meeting with investors and business leaders, as well as attending an advertised $38,000-per-ticket “conversation and dinner” event with Trump Tower Delhi National Capital Region buyers, according to the Post.

Trump Jr. will also to travel to Mumbai to attend a presentation at the new Trump Tower there, a project that will be developed by a firm owned by a state legislator from Modi’s political party. An employee of the development firm, who spoke to the Post on condition of anonymity, said part of the deal for the new Trump Tower was that then-private citizen Donald Trump would visit and do promotions there every couple of years. The election changed that, he said.

“Ideally we’d have preferred Ivanka,” the employee told the Post. “She has a better public image. But it makes sense for Donald Trump Jr. to do it.”

Mixing meetings with investors with a speech on foreign policy in the same trip raises ethical concerns that President Trump vowed to avoid upon entering the Oval Office. Before inauguration, Trump pledged his company would make no new foreign investments and said he would donate any of his company’s profits from foreign governments to the Treasury Department. As head of the Trump organization while his father is in office, Trump Jr. is reportedly not properly tracking those profits.

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