There is a fascinating, if not insulting, article over at ThinkProgress today on the Trump Presidency:
...on Saturday, Trump headed to a golf course for the 12th time during the nine weeks he’s been president. And by visiting the Trump National Golf Club in suburban Virginia, Trump — who repeatedly ripped President Obama for his much less-frequent golf outings and promised he “would rarely leave the White House because there’s so much work to be done” during the campaign — has now visited a Trump-branded property for eight straight weekends. That covers all but the very first weekend of his presidency.
But there's so much more to the article, and to this Presidency so far, it's difficult to think of anything but the outrageousness of it all. Here's another example:
White House pool reporter Adrian Carrasquillo reports that it’s unclear what Trump is doing at his golf course.
"After multiple inquires, (the press) pool still does not know who the President has met with today over the last 3 hours. It is unclear why the Trump Team can not find out this information for the pool. Will update if any information becomes available..."
What this means, ladies and gentlemen, is that, in spite of being President and in spite of what he said on the campaign trail about how he'd never go on vacation and how much work there is to do, not only is he not doing said work and not only is he down there on our Federal dime (dollars), not only is he not doing anything constructive in his job, he's also in no way beholden to the press--read: to you and I--as to what he's doing and/or with whom he's meeting or with whom he might be talking.
He's not done there, either, in his chutzpah.
Trump’s latest trip to one of his properties comes a day after Forbes broke news that Eric Trump plans to give his father quarterly updates about how Trump’s sprawling business empire is doing financially. Trump has refused to divest from his business, putting him in a unique position to profit off the presidency.
“Yeah, on the bottom line, profitability reports and stuff like that, but you know, that’s about it,” Eric Trump said, in reference to what he’ll brief his father on. “My father and I are very close… I talk to him a lot. We’re pretty inseparable.”
Those statements contradicted what Eric Trump told the Forbes reporter less than two minutes earlier.
“There is kind of a clear separation of church and state that we maintain, and I am deadly serious about that exercise,” he said. “I do not talk about the government with him, and he does not talk about the business with us. That’s kind of a steadfast pact we made, and it’s something that we honor.”
In January, Trump discussed his plan to hand over day-to-day management of the Trump Organization to his sons while retaining ownership of the company.
“My two sons, who are right here, Don and Eric, are going to be running the company,” Trump said at a press conference in New York. “They are going to be running it in a very professional manner. They’re not going to discuss it with me.”
But Eric’s comments about the quarterly briefings he plans to give his father aren’t consistent with the plan Trump outlined.
Those statements contradicted what Eric Trump told the Forbes reporter less than two minutes earlier.
“There is kind of a clear separation of church and state that we maintain, and I am deadly serious about that exercise,” he said. “I do not talk about the government with him, and he does not talk about the business with us. That’s kind of a steadfast pact we made, and it’s something that we honor.”
In January, Trump discussed his plan to hand over day-to-day management of the Trump Organization to his sons while retaining ownership of the company.
“My two sons, who are right here, Don and Eric, are going to be running the company,” Trump said at a press conference in New York. “They are going to be running it in a very professional manner. They’re not going to discuss it with me.”
But Eric’s comments about the quarterly briefings he plans to give his father aren’t consistent with the plan Trump outlined.
Just look at what he, Trump, has done since he was sworn into office:
Memberships at Mar-a-Lago doubled in price to $200,000 shortly after the inauguration (taxes and $14,000 annual dues not included). For that price you get access to the president — perhaps even while he’s trying to deal with an international crisis in a dining area.
Then, to make things worse and to capitalize yet further with his/this Presidency, he wants to exploit it and us all even further.
Meanwhile, the head of Trump’s hotel-management company recently announced plans for “an ambitious expansion across the U.S.” that would triple the number of Trump-branded hotels in the country.
Meanwhile, the head of Trump’s hotel-management company recently announced plans for “an ambitious expansion across the U.S.” that would triple the number of Trump-branded hotels in the country.
Bottom line: Trump didn't divest himself from his business, from his company or companies in any way. It seems he had no intention of doing so, too, in spite of what he said, again, during the campaign. He's blowing the Emoluments Clause of our own Constitution, right out of existence. (see below).
Besides being full of nerve and arrogance, it likely is already unconstitutional, this Presidency, this administration. Based on the Emoluments Clause alone. I said it before, between all this and the fact that he lost the American popular vote in November by 3 million votes, this administration should be ousted and the real winner of it all should be installed, inaugurated.
And post haste.
Meanwhile, here, ladies and gentlemen, are the first less than 100 days of this Presidency.
Honestly, again, God help us.
Links:
Emoluments Clause - Wikipedia
Why Trump Will Violate the Foreign Emoluments Clause - The Atlantic
Check out the irony and hypocrisy of this headline, too.
Report: Trump angry Kushner took vacation during health debate
I'm telling you, this man lacks nothing if not chutzpah.
Meanwhile, here's a good idea from some Democrats in Congress:
Dems Try To Force Trump To Publish Club Visitor Logs With 'MAR-A-LAGO' Act
Meanwhile, Mr. Calm, Cool and Collected, says don't fret:
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