and it seems the President is not required to place his assets into a blind trust. I also thought he had to, but apparently not. And I don't think Trump would care to relinquish control of his buildings, especially the one where he lives in NYC. His properties are not exactly fungible.
The Use of Blind Trusts by Federal Officials
CRS Report for Congress
The Use of Blind Trusts By Federal Officials
http://congressionalresearch.com/RS21656/document.php
Disqualification. The principal federal conflict of interest law provides that an
official who administers federal law should not take any official action on, or make
recommendations concerning any particular governmental matter in which that official,
or one closely associated with the official, has a personal “financial interest.”4 That is,
federal officials in the executive branch of Government, other than the President or Vice
President,5 must generally “recuse” or disqualify themselves from participating in any
particular governmental matter in which they have a financial interest, or in which their
spouse, dependant children, partner, or business with which they are associated, has a
financial interest. Executive branch officials may also be required, under regulations
promulgated by the Office of Government Ethics [OGE], to recuse themselves from
certain governmental matters affecting an even broader category of persons or entities
with whom they have a “covered relationship.”6
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5 18 U.S.C. § 202(c) now expressly exempts the President and Vice President from § 208.
6 5 C.F.R. §§ 2635.501, 2635.502.
7 P.L. 95-521, as amended; see now 5 U.S.C. app. §§ 101 et seq. In addition to public disclosures
required by law of high-ranking officials, confidential disclosures to employing agencies may be
required from certain rank-and-file federal employees. 5 C.F.R. § 2634.901 et seq.
options, futures, mutual fund shares, and partnership shares, even those interests held in
a “trust” managed by an independent trustee for the benefit of the official, are required to
be disclosed by the public official in his or her disclosure reports, unless the trust meets
one of the three exceptions in the law, including a “qualified blind trust.”8 For elected
federal officials, that is, Members of Congress, the President and Vice President, public
financial disclosure and the attendant publicity is the principal method of conflict of
interest regulation, as such constitutional officers are not required by statute to disqualify
or recuse themselves from the performance of their constitutional duties.9
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