The Trump business empire’s expansion into nuclear fusion is alarming ethics experts, who warn it poses glaring conflicts of interest and risks the federal government playing favorites in what could be the holy grail of clean energy.
Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT) shocked Wall Street last week by arranging a $6 billion marriage with TAE Technologies, a Google-backed company at the leading edge of fusion energy.
The merger means that soon, President Donald Trump will simultaneously have a major financial interest in a company whose fortunes will be influenced by the actions of a government that Trump himself presides over.
Nuclear fusion companies are regulated by the federal government and will likely need Uncle Sam’s deep research and even deeper pockets to become commercially viable. The merger needs to be approved by federal regulators – some of whom were nominated by Trump.
“There is a clear conflict of interest here,” Richard Painter, the top ethics official under former President George W. Bush, told CNN in a phone interview. “Every other president since the Civil War has divested from business interests that would conflict with official duties. President Trump has done the opposite.”
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