Trump Team Members Disclose Finances, Still Hold on to Assets

U.S. President Donald Trump has disclosed financial information of some of his top cabinet members and advisors. The legally required disclosures not only demonstrate the huge personal assets of his team as they entered their new positions, but have continued to cause alarm about ongoing conflicts of interest.

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The documents, released on Friday, showed that Trump and many of his team have continued to hold onto their financial assets despite working for the White House.

Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner, had earlier resigned from over 200 companies and divested from 58 business and investments that were deemed a potential conflict of interest. But Kushner and his wife Ivanka were seen to be still holding on to assets and investments estimated to be worth up to $US741 million.

Kushner, who had previously worked on Trump’s election campaign, was cleared for the advisor position after concerns over a breach of federal anti-nepotism laws.

Ivanka was reportedly working out of an office in the White House's West Wing and was earlier this week given an official position as an advisor to her father. Ivanka has also kept a stake in the Trump Trump International Hotel valued between US$5 million and US$25 million. The Hotel is located just blocks from the White House and some are wary that it would serve as a meeting place for political favors.

The holdings of Trump’s so-called “alt-right” chief strategist, Steve Bannon, were valued between US$3.3 million and US$12.6 million, with most held in his consultancy company. Counselor to the president, Kellyanne Conway was seen to make US$800,000 during 2016 campaign, and her assets were valued at more than $US31 million.  

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Head of the White House National Economic Council and former Goldman Sachs president, Gary Cohn, had assets worth at least US$230 million. According to the White House, he is still in the process of divesting more than US$1 million in income for the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.

The White House said the Office of Government Ethics has identified around 25 percent of Trump’s staffers having “extremely complex” reports because of their large wealth portfolios. Only a handful of staffers under former President Barack Obama were included in the same category. 

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence’s assets were not included in the disclosure documents and are not legally required to file until next year. 

One of Trump’s key election promises was to “drain the swamp” from corporate lobbying and donations to government, which seem to have largely disappeared according to a report last week from advocacy groups, which detailed a list of questionable activity.