1 00:00:02,033 --> 00:00:05,333 JUDY WOODRUFF: Donald Trump Jr. landed in India today to begin what will be a weeklong 2 00:00:05,333 --> 00:00:07,333 trip across the country. 3 00:00:07,333 --> 00:00:11,200 Lisa Desjardins reports on some ethical questions raised by his visit. 4 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:15,400 LISA DESJARDINS: Judy, the president's son says this trip is strictly business. 5 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:20,200 He says he's there to promote and sell condominium units at four different Trump-branded luxury 6 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:24,000 properties, sales that the president would eventually profit from. 7 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:29,000 But ethics experts say they're concerned that Donald Trump Jr. is also mixing business with 8 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:31,600 state affairs. 9 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:34,533 He is set to deliver a foreign policy speech - - and its title at least indicates it's a 10 00:00:34,533 --> 00:00:36,966 foreign policy speech -- at the end of this week. 11 00:00:36,966 --> 00:00:40,966 It's an event that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to attend. 12 00:00:40,966 --> 00:00:45,133 Sumit Ganguly is a political science professor at Indiana University-Bloomington. 13 00:00:45,133 --> 00:00:46,333 And I want to start. 14 00:00:46,333 --> 00:00:48,933 You just returned from India. 15 00:00:48,933 --> 00:00:53,800 Can you take us through the role of Trump business in India, where it fits, and then 16 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:55,933 also the politics of a trip like this? 17 00:00:55,933 --> 00:00:57,933 SUMIT GANGULY, Political Science Professor, Indiana University-Bloomington: Right. 18 00:00:57,933 --> 00:01:02,533 To begin with, these are massive investments and extremely high-end investments in real 19 00:01:03,500 --> 00:01:05,500 estate. 20 00:01:05,500 --> 00:01:09,500 Some of the largest Indian developers of real estate are working with Trump in developing 21 00:01:11,466 --> 00:01:15,866 these properties in four major metropolitan areas, including in the town where I grew 22 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:20,933 up in, Calcutta, with a population of 14 million people. 23 00:01:20,933 --> 00:01:25,933 And there is now a segment of India's population with a very substantial disposable income, 24 00:01:28,666 --> 00:01:33,666 which likes glitzy, luxurious high-end properties, which are also closed properties, where you're 25 00:01:38,033 --> 00:01:42,766 sort of spared from the squalor of India. 26 00:01:42,766 --> 00:01:46,500 And they have these nice sequestered environments. 27 00:01:46,500 --> 00:01:51,500 And what better than to have the name of the president of the United States emblazoned 28 00:01:52,266 --> 00:01:54,400 across that property? 29 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:58,300 LISA DESJARDINS: So these are high-profile, certainly very high-interest deals in India. 30 00:01:58,300 --> 00:02:02,333 Also raising eyebrows, though, in a way that I think is raising questions are some ads 31 00:02:02,333 --> 00:02:07,233 that we saw, full-page ads this week in Indian newspapers, showing Donald Trump Jr., full 32 00:02:07,233 --> 00:02:11,500 page, and then this double entendre quote saying: "Trump is here. 33 00:02:11,500 --> 00:02:12,800 Are you invited?" 34 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:15,233 Can you take us through the ethics here? 35 00:02:15,233 --> 00:02:19,366 They're selling condos, but there they're also advertising access. 36 00:02:19,366 --> 00:02:20,600 Are they selling access? 37 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:22,700 Is that how this would be interpreted in India? 38 00:02:22,700 --> 00:02:27,300 SUMIT GANGULY: They're not selling access directly, but it raises a question, if the 39 00:02:30,066 --> 00:02:35,066 president's name is on this property, if his son is hawking these properties, and then 40 00:02:37,066 --> 00:02:40,466 giving a foreign policy address, it sort of commingles business and at the same time politics. 41 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:48,400 And, of course, the entire apparatus of the United States government that's present in 42 00:02:51,233 --> 00:02:55,000 India is going to be facilitating his visit. 43 00:02:55,000 --> 00:03:00,000 So, it sort of raises questions about certain lines being blurred, that where does sort 44 00:03:02,233 --> 00:03:07,233 of a simple property development end, and where do sort of the president's personal 45 00:03:08,933 --> 00:03:13,133 interests, particularly financial interests, become implicated? 46 00:03:13,133 --> 00:03:16,866 LISA DESJARDINS: Donald Trump Jr., though, is a private businessman. 47 00:03:16,866 --> 00:03:21,600 He says he's already voluntarily said no new deals as long as my father is president. 48 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:26,600 But should he be forced to limit himself because his name, which he makes his money off of, 49 00:03:27,800 --> 00:03:29,266 is also the president's name, if you follow me? 50 00:03:29,266 --> 00:03:31,300 SUMIT GANGULY: Yes, I certainly do. 51 00:03:31,300 --> 00:03:36,166 But the issue is not simply a matter that these deals were already under way, but the 52 00:03:38,566 --> 00:03:43,566 fact is that why, as a private citizen, is he giving a foreign policy speech, where the 53 00:03:44,700 --> 00:03:47,100 prime minister of India may be present? 54 00:03:47,100 --> 00:03:52,100 And also when one of the developers happens to be a critical member of the Bharatiya Janata 55 00:03:55,033 --> 00:03:58,166 Party, which is the party currently in power. 56 00:03:58,166 --> 00:04:03,166 It is blurring certain lines which I think really should be kept quite separate. 57 00:04:05,166 --> 00:04:10,000 LISA DESJARDINS: The title of that address, as advertised by the summit organization, 58 00:04:11,100 --> 00:04:12,500 is "Reshaping Indo-Pacific Ties." 59 00:04:12,500 --> 00:04:14,600 That's an active title, even muscular. 60 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:18,200 We reached out to the Trump Organization to try and get information about what Donald 61 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:19,200 Trump Jr. would say. 62 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:20,700 They didn't get back to us. 63 00:04:20,700 --> 00:04:23,266 But something like that, is that usual for a businessman? 64 00:04:23,266 --> 00:04:27,433 And would Indians, do you think, interpret what he says as representing U.S. policy? 65 00:04:27,433 --> 00:04:32,433 SUMIT GANGULY: They could certainly construe this as an endorsement of American policy 66 00:04:34,433 --> 00:04:38,966 or a statement of American policy, given that it's coming from the president's son, who, 67 00:04:41,500 --> 00:04:45,333 though he has no sort of formal role in government, has nevertheless been seen in sort of critical 68 00:04:50,366 --> 00:04:52,400 places in the White House. 69 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:57,233 And, consequently, again, we are talking about sort of failing to keep certain lines very, 70 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:06,000 very clear, that one is a purely business enterprise, and another is reflecting American 71 00:05:08,566 --> 00:05:10,666 foreign policy interests. 72 00:05:10,666 --> 00:05:13,166 LISA DESJARDINS: And the State Department has said that he's there as a private citizen. 73 00:05:13,166 --> 00:05:15,300 Sumit Ganguly, thank you so much for joining us. 74 00:05:15,300 --> 00:05:16,300 SUMIT GANGULY: My pleasure entirely. 75 00:05:16,300 --> 00:05:16,433 Thank you.