In a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning, a spokesman for Donald Trump’s transition avoided questions about whether the President-elect is still involved in running his business empire, directing reporters to Trump himself.
“Has the president-elect had any conversations with any foreign leaders about his business operations, and is he still involved in the business side of the Trump Organization?” Damian Paletta, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, asked.
“I think you’re probably specifically referring to the false news that came out yesterday on the Argentina front, which was batted down as being untrue from both sides,” Trump spokesman Jason Miller said.
He pivoted to discuss the timing of Trump’s transition, and said that the President-elect’s team is working to prepare him for office.
“They’re continuing to work through the transition process and we’ll do our best to give you updates as that moves along,” Miller said. “We don’t have anything additional to add right at this time.”
Emily Stephenson, a reporter for Reuters, asked whether Trump would “be stepping back” from his involvement with his personal businesses. She cited a tweet posted by the President-elect on Monday night where he dismissed concerns about his business ties and said that voters knew about his real estate holdings around the world before the election.
“It sounded like he was saying there that he’s still involved on the business side,” Stephenson said.
Miller passed the responsibility for answering that question straight to Trump.
“I would go ahead and let the President-elect speak for that directly,” he said.
Allegations surfaced Monday that Trump asked Argentine President Mauricio Macri for help with permitting issues holding up a building project the President-elect licensed his name to in Buenos Aires.
Both Macri’s office and the Trump transition team denied reports that they discussed personal business during a call Macri made to Trump to congratulate the President-elect on his unexpected election victory.
