What Ivanka Trump is doing on any given day remains unclear, but especially so on Monday as she joins President Trump on a state visit to India. “The grandeur and beauty of the Taj Mahal is awe inspiring!” the first daughter and White House adviser tweeted, sharing a photo of herself posing in front of the ancient temple. (The president and first lady were also present.) Other photos from the stop show Ivanka sitting on the same storied bench that the Princess of Wales sat upon—notably without Prince Charles—shortly before her divorce in 1992.
Jokes about the (now defunct) Atlantic City casino Trump Taj Mahal aside, Trump, backed by his advisers/family members, is touting trade and a $3 billion defense (see also: weapons) deal between the two countries, including at a joint rally with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi before an estimated crowd of 100,000 people.
But, as is being rightly noted, India is not just another U.S. ally. It also happens to be the Trump Organization’s largest foreign market—“home to the most Trump ventures outside North America,” as the Washington Post put it. Among the five Trump properties in the country are four luxury high-rises (Trump Tower Mumbai, Trump Towers Pune, Trump Towers Delhi NCR, Trump Tower Kolkata) and an office tower under construction, all branded under licensing deals.
And so the same suspicion of conflict of interest—Trump using the presidency for eventual profit—that began when he first refused to divest from his business holdings upon taking office also hovers over the India trip. Both Trump and Ivanka (who oversaw development and acquisitions for the Trump Organization) say they are currently not involved in the family’s real estate dealings, but both could profit from the India ventures (as well as others globally) in the future.
In the meantime, the Post notes that “two of Trump’s business partners in India have developed problems of their own: One is accused of massive fraud, while the other is facing a funding crunch. Both of them have close ties to India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party,” which is headed by none other than Trump’s rally partner, Prime Minister Modi.
It’s a good time to remember that Vice President Mike Pence traversed Ireland at a cost of $600,000 to taxpayers seemingly just so he could stay at a Trump hotel, and that Ivanka’s now-defunct company continues to receive new Chinese trademarks, even as she dines with Chinese president Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago. It’s a troubling thought and one that perhaps won’t become completely clear until we have the benefit of hindsight: that the Trumps’ official visits are also self-serving ad campaigns.
