US lawmakers express concern over foreign conflicts of Donald Trump

Citing his meeting with Indian businessmen, Democratic lawmakers have expressed concerns over "conflict of interest" of Donald Trump, with one Senator planning to introduce a resolution asking the President-elect to ensure that his dealings do not violate the Constitution.

Senator Ben Cardin, Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and a senior Member of Senate Finance Committee, has said he will introduce a resolution next week stating the sense of Congress that President-elect Trump should convert his assets to simple, conflict-free holdings, adopt blind trusts, or take other equivalent measures, in order to ensure consistency with the Emoluments Clause of the US Constitution.

Cardin said the resolution will note that in the absence of such actions by President-elect before he assumes office or specific authorisation by Congress, the Congress will regard dealings by Trump-owned companies with any entity owned by a foreign government as potential violations of the Constitution.

"This resolution is intended to prevent a crisis or any misunderstanding regarding the consistency of the President's actions with the US Constitution. Unless he takes appropriate action, Trump's many international financial interests pose a great risk of violating the Constitution once he assumes the Presidency of the United States," Cardin said.

"In the two months before President-elect Trump's inauguration, he should provide the American people with clarity and certainty that he will in no way, shape, or form use the office of the President to advance his substantial personal fortune," he said.

However, Trump said his presidency would not be marred by conflicts of interest stemming from his business empire.

"In theory I could run my business perfectly and then run the country perfectly. There's never been a case like this," The New York Times quoted the real estate tycoon as saying.

Three Indian executives - Sagar Chordia, Atul Chordia and Kalpesh Mehta - had met Trump in New York last week.

The three said that they have discussed expanding their partnership with the Trump Organisation now that Trump is President-elect.

In another related development, top Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee sent a letter to Inspectors General at federal financial services agencies, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Justice, calling on them to root out any potential "conflicts of interests" in President-elect Donald Trump's administration.

Congressman Eliot Engel, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee said that American national security requires the President to be singularly focused on what's good for the US.