--- title: Donald Trump: Call for Transparency on Foreign Investments description: Fifty former government officials signed an open letter calling on Donald Trump to release information about his business dealings abroad. canonical: https://time.com/4500219/donald-trump-foreign-investments-letter/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-19T20:02:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T00:41:48.806Z article:section: Politics og:title: 50 Former Officials Demand Donald Trump Release Details on Foreign Investments og:description: The letter was signed by Hillary Clinton supporters and prominent Republicans og:url: https://time.com/4500219/donald-trump-foreign-investments-letter/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d9cd5073020a9d0/6988a6b2fb4eaca0ea88f2bd/gettyimages-607001284-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Donald Trump for President Rally og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 50 Former Officials Demand Donald Trump Release Details on Foreign Investments twitter:description: The letter was signed by Hillary Clinton supporters and prominent Republicans twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d9cd5073020a9d0/6988a6b2fb4eaca0ea88f2bd/gettyimages-607001284-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 50 Former Officials Demand Transparency From Donald Trump on Foreign Investments by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Sep 19, 2016 8:02 PM UTC  US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at James L. Knight Center on September 16, 2016 in Miami, Florida. Johnny Louis—FilmMagic US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event at James L. Knight Center on September 16, 2016 in Miami, Florida. Johnny Louis—FilmMagicJohnny Louis—FilmMagic by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Sep 19, 2016 8:02 PM UTC A group of 50 former government officials signed an [open letter calling on Donald Trump](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/09/18/us/politics/letter-trump-business.html) to release information about his business dealings abroad. The letter was signed by Hillary Clinton supporters and prominent Republicans, all of whom say the next president will take office at a complex moment in world affairs. Because of that, the letter says, the next president of the U.S. should champion policies that are “motivated exclusively by what is in America’s best interest, not by the financial interests of our president,” the [New York _Times_ reports](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/20/us/politics/donald-trump-business-reaction.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytpolitics&smtyp=cur). “Donald Trump still has not revealed to the American public his international business relationships, even as it becomes increasingly clear that his overseas ties could well constitute significant conflicts of interest when it comes to charting U.S. foreign policy,” the letter says. The signatories of the letter also call on Trump to pledge to “divest himself of his overseas business interests should he win the presidency.” Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has faced similar scrutiny for her work with the Clinton Foundation and donations it has received from foreign entities. Former president Bill Clinton has announced several steps the Clintons would take to curb concerns about conflict of interest should Hillary win the election. The New York _Times_ says the letter was written after [_Newsweek_](http://www.newsweek.com/2016/09/23/donald-trump-foreign-business-deals-national-security-498081.html) reported on business dealings Trump had n China, India and Russia, as well as with the former dictator of Libya. The Trump campaign denounced at least one of the letters signatories, saying the inclusion of Wendy Sherman, who served as a key negotiator for the Iran nuclear deal, delegitimizes the letter. Read the whole letter at the [New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/09/18/us/politics/letter-trump-business.html). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4500219/donald-trump-foreign-investments-letter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4500219/donald-trump-foreign-investments-letter/"},"headline":"50 Former Officials Demand Transparency From Donald Trump on Foreign Investments","datePublished":"2016-09-19T20:02:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:41:48.806Z","description":"The letter was signed by Hillary Clinton supporters and prominent Republicans","url":"https://time.com/4500219/donald-trump-foreign-investments-letter/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic","Election 2016","Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d9cd5073020a9d0/6988a6b2fb4eaca0ea88f2bd/gettyimages-607001284-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7d9cd5073020a9d0/6988a6b2fb4eaca0ea88f2bd/gettyimages-607001284-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump for President Rally","caption":"Donald Trump for President Rally","creditText":"Johnny Louis—FilmMagic","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4500219/donald-trump-foreign-investments-letter/","name":"50 Former Officials Demand Transparency From Donald Trump on Foreign Investments"}}]}] ```