WASHINGTON (AP) – It’s a public relations win for the president-elect: Donald Trump ’s company says it will donate profits from any foreign governments that use his hotels. In practice, however, the public may never know if any money changes hands.
Trump says he is making the move to avoid the appearance that foreign governments can curry favor with him by using his hotels – including one that just opened a short walk from the White House.
“This way, it is the American people who will profit,” said Sheri Dillion, a lawyer working with the Trump Organization, as she outlined Trump ’s plan for his global business empire while he’s president. The hotel-profits money would be sent to the U. S. Treasury.
Yet the unusual arrangement left many ethics experts with questions about how it would be implemented, disclosed and enforced. Several panned the idea as an unenforceable PR move.
One key question was about Trump ’s definitions.
The donations pledge only includes his hotels, meaning golf courses and other properties are exempt. The policy appears to apply only to “foreign governments,” – a narrow description that seems to overlook governments that use a third-party vendor to do business with Trump. (It does not apply to domestic interests, including companies that may have regulatory business before the government, or domestic lobbyists.)
And then there is the focus on “profit.” Steven Carvell, a Cornell University School of Hotel Administration professor, said it’s not impossible – but is challenging and unusual – to try to calculate “profit” on an individual room or venue rental. Typically, that’s assessed monthly or quarterly and for an entire category – such as the rooms or food and beverage department – within a property.
“It’s a monumental task to constantly run this down,” Carvell said. “Even if the company is trying its hardest and making its very best effort, it will be difficult to fulfill that goal.”
Through a spokeswoman at her firm, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Dillon declined to answer questions about the foreign donations pledge. Representatives of the Trump Organization did not return requests for comment, and a transition official answered select questions but requested anonymity to discuss the company’s internal policies.
The official suggested profit from foreign governments “is already accounted for as standard practice for things like competitive analysis.”
U. S. presidents are not subject to the conflict of interest laws that their own appointees must follow, but until now they have followed them anyway to set an example. Trump is blazing a different trail by refusing to give up a financial interest in his company while turning over the reins to his adult sons and a senior executive.
The policy is crafted to address the argument that Trump ’s business may not break conflict-of-interest law but does violate the U. S. Constitution.
Some ethics attorneys have argued that some of his international work and foreign government guests at his hotels will put him in violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution. The clause prohibits presidents from accepting gifts and payments from foreign governments without congressional approval.
Trump ’s lawyer argues that fair-value exchanges, such as leasing venue space at a hotel, do not violate the clause.
“No one would have thought when the Constitution was written that paying your hotel bill was an emolument,” Dillon said. Still, she said, Trump was taking this step “to put to rest any concerns.”
Just since Election Day, the Embassy of Bahrain and the Kuwaiti Embassy have booked parties at Trump’s Washington hotel. The transition official said the company had not yet determined if the donations rule will extend beyond foreign governments to include other foreign actors such as members of a royal family or government-controlled businesses.
Trump and his representatives didn’t discuss how anyone might know if they’re doing what they promise.
Like other aspects of the self-imposed arrangement, that’s largely a matter of faith. And Trump hasn’t followed through on previous charity pledges, including a failure to give a promised $6 million to veterans’ organizations last year until months later when reporters asked questions about what had happened to the money.
Trump did not commit to disclosing what money was being turned over to the government. The transition official believes the donations will be made “on an annual basis.” The Treasury Department doesn’t typically report the details of donations, citing the privacy of its donors.
Andy Grewal, a University of Iowa law professor whose position that Trump ’s hotels do not violate the emoluments clause was cited in Dillon’s briefing Wednesday, said the company should take steps to make clear what it’s doing. Ideally, he said, one of the major accounting firms would calculate profit on the transactions that trigger the donations and report its findings publicly.
“Once you’ve promised to turn over the profits, you have to back that up with documentation, whether you’re required to do that or not,” he said.
The government first established an account to accept gifts and bequests in 1843. The Treasury Department will accept contributions via credit card, debit card, checks and even PayPal. In fiscal 2016, people donated $2.7 million to reduce the debt, an impressive gesture but hardly a scratch on the $14.1 trillion publicly held debt, according to Treasury Department figures.
___
Associated Press writers Chad Day and Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.
Follow Julie Bykowicz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/bykowicz
Copyright © 2017 The Washington Times, LLC.
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Global stock markets were mixed on Friday with European markets off to a positive start after some Asian markets closed lower on disappointing trade data from China. The U. S. dollar resumed its fall after a brief gain.
KEEPING SCORE: Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.4 percent to 7,318.35 while France’s CAC 40 rose 0.5 percent to 4,889.20. Germany’s DAX advanced 0.4 percent to 11,565.87. Futures showed U. S. markets headed for a lackluster start. Dow futures inched up 0.1 percent while S&P futures also added 0.1 percent.
CHINA TRADE: Customs data showed that Chinese exports sank 6.1 percent in December from a year earlier. In November, China’s exports eked out a 0.1 percent expansion after shrinking for nine straight months. Imports rose 3.1 percent from a year earlier.
ANALYST TAKE: « The slowdown is disappointing given signs from recent business surveys, and from Korea and Taiwan’s export data, that global demand continued to strengthen in December, » Julian Evans-Pritchard of Capital Economics said in a research note. The upshot is that while China’s trade performance has improved somewhat over the past year, the lack of a more substantial recovery (particularly in exports) is concerning, » he said.
SAMSUNG: South Korea’s Samsung Electronics fell 3.5 percent, its first drop in about a week, pulling the benchmark Kospi lower. The share price of the world’s largest maker of memory chips and smartphones had hit new highs in recent weeks, driven by expectations of strong earnings from its semiconductor business. Prosecutors investigating the influence-peddling scandal that prompted the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye have named Lee Jae-yong, Samsung vice chairman, a bribery suspect in the political scandal.
ASIA’S DAY: Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained 0.8 percent to 19,287.28. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index was up 0.5 percent to 22,937.38. But China’s Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.2 percent to 3,112.76 and South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.5 percent to 2,076.79. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 slumped 0.8 percent to 5,721.10. Shares gained in Singapore and Indonesia but fell in Taiwan and the Philippines.
OIL: Benchmark crude oil fell 11 cents to $52.90 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained 76 cents, or 1.5 percent, to close at $53.01 a barrel on Thursday. Brent crude, which is used to price oil sold internationally, lost 20 cents to $55.81 per barrel.
CURRENCIES: The dollar turned lower, trading at 114.60 yen from 114.86 yen. The euro strengthened to $1.0647 from $1.0611.

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Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the U. S. economy faces no serious short-term obstacles, though it must deal with important long-term challenges of low productivity and growing inequality.
“Unemployment has now reached a low level, the labor market is generally strong and wage growth is beginning to pick up,” Yellen said Thursday in a meeting with educators. “Inflation has moved up from a very low level, and it’s a little bit under our 2 percent objective, but it’s pretty close.”
The Fed increased interest rates last month for the first time in a year, to a range of 0.5 percent to 0.75 percent, after judging that near-term risks to the outlook “appear roughly balanced.” Policy makers also indicated they expect to hike three times in 2017, according to the median estimate of their quarterly forecast.
Unemployment was 4.7 percent in December, a slight uptick from November when it reached 4.6 percent, its lowest level since 2007. The Fed’s preferred gauge of inflation, minus food and energy components, was 1.6 percent in the 12 months through November.
Yellen said productivity, a “key determinant” of living standards over the long term, remained at historically low levels and economists were struggling to understand why. Related to low productivity, she said a greater share of income gains were going to workers with higher education, causing inequality to rise in the U. S.
Education and workforce development have been frequent topics of discussion for Fed officials in recent years as technology continues to drive changes in the workplace. Yellen told graduating college students in Baltimore last month that career success will increasingly be linked to education.
Yellen on Thursday was speaking to teachers gathered in the board room at the Fed’s headquarters in Washington and, via web cast, to others through the country. She also touted reforms to banking regulation that followed the financial crisis aimed at making the financial sector safer and more resilient.
“These are very important changes,” Yellen said. “I certainly wouldn’t want to see them rolled back.”
Members of the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump have said they will seek to dismantle the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, the principle legislative response to the crisis.

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The so-called Trump rally, which has sent stocks soaring to fresh records since November, has largely been led by financial institutions.
Investors have bid banking stocks up because they expect higher interest rates from the Federal Reserve and looser regulations on Wall Street.
2. Wells Fargo in the hot seat: While the banking sector prospects are looking rosy, the atmosphere may be subdued during Wells Fargo’s earnings call.
New CEO Tim Sloan is expected to field tough questions about the bank’s efforts to get past its fake accounts scandal .
Investors will be looking to see if Wells Fargo’s account openings continued to plunge in December.
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3. Global stock market overview: Stock markets around the world are heading back up again after a negative Thursday.
U. S. stock futures are indicating markets will make modest gains at the open.
European markets are mostly higher in early trading. But Asian markets ended the day with mixed results.
This comes after the Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq both declined by 0.3%, while the S&P 500 dipped 0.2% over the previous trading session.
4. Market movers — Fiat Chrysler, Takata: Fiat Chrysler ( FCAU ) shares trading in Milan staged a strong recovery after closing with a 16% loss on Thursday.
Investors hit the sell button after U. S. regulators accused the automaker of installing software that allowed its diesel-powered cars and trucks to cheat on emissions tests .
The accusation by the Environmental Protection Agency and the California Air Resources Board is similar to the scandal that has plagued automaker Volkswagen ( VLKAY ) for more than a year.
Shares in Fiat are now up by about 4% in Milan.
And shares in the Japanese airbag maker Takata ( TKTDY ) surged by 16.5% Friday as investors expect that the company is close to settling a case with the U. S. Department of Justice over its deadly airbags. Reports say the announcement could come Friday.
The company’s faulty airbags have led to at least 11 deaths .
5. Economics: The U. S. Census Bureau is releasing its December retail sales report at 8:30 a.m. ET. Investors will be looking to see whether rising consumer confidence led to increased spending.
And — speak of the devil! — the University of Michigan is releasing a reading on consumer sentiment for January at 10 a.m.
Download CNN MoneyStream for up-to-the-minute market data and news
6. Coming this week:
Friday – Bank of America ( BAC ) , JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ) and Wells Fargo ( WFC ) report earnings

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By Bryan Borzykowski
What does the future hold for mergers and acquisitions activity? That’s the question many business owners are asking themselves after the uncertainties of 2016. With Brexit continuing to work itself out, a Trump presidency just taking shape and questions around global growth, executives are wondering whether 2017 will be a good year for making deals.
Not surprisingly, the outlook depends on how certain events play out in the U. S. and abroad, says Tom Cane, managing editor of the Americas at Mergermarket , a company that tracks global M&A activity. With many of President-elect Donald Trump’s policies still unclear —such as his views on anti-trust legislation — and many key appointments not yet confirmed, it’s hard to predict what next year might hold.
Still, some are optimistic that Trump’s business acumen will provide an overall lift. “Deal makers have been telling us that they hope his love of the deal will translate into a pro-business mindset, » Cane said.
There’s also hope that the new year will pick up where 2016 left off. Even with all the geopolitical surprises, 2016 tallied the third best year on record for M&A deals, according to Cane. Activity dropped by 23 percent year-over-year, but with 4,951 mergers the environment remained strong, he says.
Here are four M&A trends to watch in 2017:
1. Still Lots Of Liquidity
Since the 2008 recession, companies have been hoarding cash, but many now want to spend that money, says Gerry O’Meara, head of M&A at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey. According to FactSet , S&P 500 businesses held more than $1.5 trillion in cash in the third quarter of 2016, a 7.6 percent year-over-year increase. Commercial banks also have money to lend, while private equity firms want to spend, he says.
In today’s slower growth environment, many businesses are on the hunt for high-quality companies that will add to the bottom line, despite higher valuations.
“Companies are looking for ways to get a return on their cash, » O’Meara said.
2. Slowly Rising Debt Costs
How fast interest rates rise will affect the M&A sector, says Scott Cathcart, a senior vice president in SunTrust’s Corporate Finance group. Typically, the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR), which is connected to the Federal Reserve’s short-term rate, determines the debt financing rate.
A rise in LIBOR would make it more costly to borrow money, resulting in buyers paying less for companies. If rates rise too quickly, then business owners may have trouble getting the prices they want, says Cathcart.
While the Federal Reserve raised rates in December by 0.25 percent, and it could increase rates further in 2017, hardly anyone expects a large spike in the Federal Funds rate used among banks and other depository institutions. If rates rise gradually, companies won’t feel a material impact.
According to O’Meara, even if rates do rise further, the absolute level will still support elevated M&A activity.
3. Energy, Tech Could Lead The Way
The energy sector, given Trump’s presidential victory, could prove a « very interesting area to look out for, » according to Cane. If friendlier regulations help increase oil and gas production, more deals are likely in the next year.
The technology industry, which has been one of the most active sectors, should also continue seeing high M&A rates, says O’Meara. Internet, tech-enabled services, financial technology and healthcare IT will all experience more consolidation, he projects.
Healthcare, however, could hit the pause button in 2017 due to uncertainty around the fate of the Affordable Care Act under a Trump presidency.
The healthcare industry is also waiting to see how a Trump tax amnesty program might work. If drug companies with international footprints can bring cash back into the U. S. without penalty, the sector could pick up. “We could see more drug companies buying manufacturing assets in the U. S. than elsewhere, » Cane said.
4. Trump’s Pro-Growth Policies
How successfully Trump delivers on his agenda could determine the fate of the M&A space overall. If his GDP-boosting policies pan out — such as investing $1 trillion in infrastructure spending — M&A activity could increase, O’Meara says. Should Trump’s plans not come to fruition, and uncertainty levels rise, M&A activity could drop.
“If we go back into a period of higher market volatility, that will dampen the outlook for M&A, » O’Meara said. “A lot of people are concluding we’re going to get into a higher growth mode as reflected by the equity market, but if we don’t, then clearly we would have less activity.  »
Ultimately, though, business owners have plenty of reasons to remain hopeful. Those who want to sell in 2017 should start planning now: Cathcart recommends making your company as attractive as possible to buyers by boosting valuations, increasing efficiencies, hiring the right operations and finance teams and diversifying revenues.
Do all of that and buyers should come calling. “There’s a tremendous amount of liquidity in the market that companies will be allocating to M&A, » O’Meara said.
Bryan Borzykowski has written three books on personal finance. He also writes about businesses and technology. Bryan is on Twitter @bborzyko.
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NEW YORK, Jan. 13 (UPI) — Doubts about whether all parties to an OPEC-led agreement to cut production will do enough to balance markets pushed oil prices lower early Friday.
Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, put wind in the sails of crude oil prices Thursday after it revealed its production was just under 10 million barrels per day for a 22-month low.
Kuwait, Iraq and Saudi Arabia are among the producers showcasing their commitment to a November agreement to trim production to around 32.5 million barrels per day. Non-OPEC member Russia signaled last week it was honoring its word, but provided no production figures to match its claims.
Olivier Jakob, managing director of Switzerland-based consultant Petromatrix, said in an emailed report that OPEC is in « verbal support mode, » suggesting rhetoric is the driving factor over concrete market fundamentals. By his account, with Libya and Nigeria showing increases in output as member states exempt from the production deal, OPEC was producing 33.1 million bpd.
Supply-side pressures brought on by higher U. S and OPEC oil production pulled oil prices down sharply last year. The price for Brent crude was down 0.5 percent about an hour before the start of trading in New York to $55.72 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the U. S. benchmark price, was off 0.7 percent to $52.65 per barrel.
Stephen Brennock, an analyst at broker PVM, said in an early Friday report that Saudi Arabia’s announcement on production may be cover for fraying at the edges of the OPEC deal.
« As the Saudis hint at even deeper reductions in February, assumptions are rife that its enthusiastic approach to output cuts is an admission that cheating is expected on the part of other producers, » he said.
Oil prices could be influenced later in the day after oilfield services company Baker Hughes releases weekly data on exploration and production activity. North American activity turned positive late last year and federal U. S. estimates show gains are expected in crude oil production this year.

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