POSTED BY MARTIN KICH

Trump Jr. to Trib: Dad Will ‘Separate’ from Business Interests if Elected

BY TOM FONTAINE  | Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2016, 7:39 p.m.

Donald Trump Jr. dismissed a new report Wednesday that his family’s international business interests could present conflicts and ethical quandaries should his father be elected president.

“My father is going to be a government official, and he’s going to separate himself” from the Trump Organization’s business interests, Trump Jr., 38, said during a meeting with Tribune-Review editors and reporters.

Trump Jr., who helped open a Pennsylvania campaign office in Washington County in the morning, said creating a blind trust would prevent the elder Trump from knowing how the company’s assets are managed.

Trump Jr., the Trump Organization’s executive vice president, said he and other family members involved in the company would not be part of their father’s would-be administration and would not do business directly with foreign governments that might be inclined to give the company preferential treatment to curry favor with a Trump White House.

A Newsweek analysis published Wednesday said a blind trust would not work because “the Trump family is already aware of who their overseas partners are and could easily learn about any new ones” — an assertion Trump Jr. dismissed, saying it would work “just like it has for everyone else who’s had a business and run for office.” . . .

URL: http://triblive.com/politics/politicalheadlines/11142102-74/trump-lies-pennsylvania.

Networks air 20-Minute Trump ‘Commercial’ before Statement

Television networks angry at being ‘played’ by Trump, after they air 20 minutes’ worth of endorsements live before candidate briefly renounces his stance on birther issue.

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s renouncement of birtherism on Friday came with some media gamesmanship that compelled television news networks to air 20 minutes of endorsements by retired military men before the candidate briefly got to the point.

“We all got Rick-rolled,” said CNN’s Jake Tapper, a reference to the Internet prank of replacing an expected link with a video of singer Rick Astley’s 1987 hit, “Never Gonna Give You Up.”

The bad blood continued after the event when the Trump campaign barred text reporters and a television producer from joining him on a tour of the new Trump International Hotel in Washington. In response, cable and broadcast networks refused to use any video of the tour.

Trump’s long-expressed doubts that President Obama was born in the United States — despite a birth certificate proving Obama’s eligibility for the presidency — resurfaced with a Washington Post interview on Thursday where Trump would not say whether or not he believed the president was born in Hawaii in 1961.

With criticism of his birther movement starting anew, Trump’s campaign signaled that the candidate would address the issue Friday at a Washington event. When Trump stepped to the podium at 11:04 a.m. EDT, he was carried live on CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC.

Following a short statement that didn’t address the birther issue, Trump stepped aside for a succession of Medal of Honor recipients to approach the microphone and endorse him.

The networks stuck with the event, essentially a Trump commercial, until Fox News Channel pulled away at 11:25 a.m. for a studio discussion and the other two networks shortly followed suit. By 11:30, Trump stepped back to the podium and all the networks went back to him live. . . .

URL: http://www.dailyastorian.com/networks-air-20-minute-trump-commercial-before-statement-da-ap-webfeeds-news-entertainment661c896d7dc641faa13fffdb614259ae.