Trump’s Interests Above America’s Interests

Donald Trump continues to put his family’s business interests above the American people.

 

  1. Trump promised  he would return any profits from foreign governments at his hotels to the Treasury. But now, Trump’s lawyers are changing their tune because it’s “impractical.”

 

New York Times: “As Donald J. Trump prepared to assume the presidency, he unveiled an ethics plan promising that his company would donate to the United States Treasury ‘all profits’ from foreign government patronage of his hotels. Several months later, the Trump Organization is finding that pledge daunting to keep. The company told Congress in a recent submission that it was all but impossible to identify every foreign government official who walked through the doors of its hotels. And investigating all its patrons, the organization argued, would interfere with its business and ask too much of customers.”

 

  1. Jared Kushner, senior advisor and son-in-law to the president, is keeping about 90 percent of his real estate holdings, including apartments where at least one tenant alleges the owners are “slumlords.”

 

Washington Post: “The value of his retained real estate interests is between $132 million and $407 million and could leave him in a position to financially benefit from his family’s business.”

 

New York Times Magazine: “‘They’re nothing but slumlords,’ Howell told me of (Kushner owned company) Westminster Management. ‘They take everyone’s money.’”

 

  1. Trump’s administration is trying to stop an ethics inquiry on former lobbyists in the White House. Luckily, the Trump request was denied.

 

New York Times: “The Trump administration, in a significant escalation of its clash with the government’s top ethics watchdog, has moved to block an effort to disclose any ethics waivers granted to former lobbyists who have work in the White House or federal agencies.”

 

NPR: “In a nine-page response, Shaub said that the OGE ‘declines your request to suspend its ethics authority,’ adding that ‘public confidence in the integrity of government decision making demands no less.’”

 

  1. Foundation set up by Ivanka Trump accepted a $100 million donation from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates while Trump was in Saudi Arabia on his first foreign trip.

 

CNN: “Just two days into President Donald Trump debut foreign trip, a member of his inner-circle has already reaped benefits to the tune of $100 million.”

 

  1. Reception Manager of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort is on Trump’s foreign trip with an official White House phone and email address, while her husband, a convicted felon, has bragged about his access to the White House.

 

BuzzFeed: “Heather Rinkus, the guest reception manager at Trump's ‘Winter White House,’ is working with the president's advance and logistics team, while Trump's exclusive club, Mar-a-Lago, closes for the summer. … Ari Rinkus, who is still on probation for pleading guilty to wire fraud as part of a Ponzi scheme, has told a foreign company, Securablinds, he can use Heather's access to the president to secure government and Trump Organization contracts, BuzzFeed News previously reported.”