February 10, 2017

Indonesian business partner claims easy access to White House

Mother Jones - In a recent interview with Indonesian weekly Tempo titled "I Have Access To President Trump," Hary Tanoesoedibjo, a billionaire who inked deals with the Trump Organization to build luxury resorts on the islands of Bali and Lido, said he has instant access to Trump's children and through them can reach Trump whenever he wants. Before assuming office, Trump declined to divest from any of his businesses but said he would no longer have any involvement with the day-to-day operations of the Trump Organization, which is now being run by his sons, Donald Jr. and Eric. Trump also said his company would not initiate any new foreign deals, although it would continue to develop projects that were already in progress, including the two resorts he is building with Tanoesoedibjo that are barely underway.

In the Tempo interview, which appears in the Indonesian magazine's print edition with a short excerpt online, Tanoesoedibjo shed little new light on the resort projects, declining to provide details on how the projects will be financed ("third parties, i.e. banks and financial institutions, personal capital and those of partners") or how much Trump is being paid for his involvement. According to Trump's latest personal financial disclosure form, last year he was paid between $2 million and $10 million for his role in the Indonesian projects.

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