Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:41 pm
Donald Trump’s promise that his companies won’t do any new deals once he is in office still sets the president-elect up to be violating the Constitution on day one.
Trump tweeted the promise that his companies would do no new deals once he is in office:
Even though I am not mandated by law to do so, I will be leaving my busineses before January 20th so that I can focus full time on the……
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— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2016
Presidency. Two of my children, Don and Eric, plus executives, will manage them. No new deals will be done during my term(s) in office.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2016
Trump’s second tweet makes it appear that the constitutional issue is one of control of his business interests, but the constitutional issue is one of ownership.
Richard Painter and Norm Eisen discussed the problems created by Trump’s continued ownership of business interests in The Washington Post, “Continuance of the current Trump empire means that it will be rife with opportunities for quid pro quos and other illegalities. Most immediately, if those businesses continue to receive foreign government payments, Trump will be in violation of the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution from his first day as president.”
Trump is doing a song and dance while moving pieces around, but he appears to have no interest in addressing the real problem. If Trump keeps ownership in his business interests and those interests take a single payment from a foreign government, he will be in violation of the Constitution and subject to impeachment.
By stubbornly refusing to put the country ahead of his own financial interests, president-elect Trump will be giving his critics grounds for impeachment. Trump could easily solve this issue today by either placing his business interests in a blind trust or divesting his interests.
Donald Trump wants to make money off of being president, and his taste for corruption could lead to his downfall.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association