Possible Conflict Of Interest: Trump Owns Shares In DAPL Parent Company

26 November 2016

 - President-elect Donald Trump’s investments in two companies behind the Dakota Access pipeline, although small, are raising concerns about whether Trump’s stake in the project could affect decisions he makes about the pipeline as president.

According to Trump’s 2016 federal disclosure forms, the billionaire businessman owned between $15,000 and $50,000 in stock from Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners, the owners of the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline. A year earlier, his share was between $500,000 and $1 million.

The president-elect sold off his shares in Energy Transfer Partners, Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks said. If true, it is unclear why investments in the company are still listed in the disclosure.

However, Trump’s financial disclosures also show he has between $500,000 and $1 million invested in Phillips 66, another energy company headquartered in Texas with a 25 percent ownership share of the Dakota Access.