Trump Calls The Constitution Phony While Comparing Himself To George Washington

Trump called the emoluments clause of the Constitution phony while comparing himself to George Washington running his business in the White House.

Trump said:

George Washington, he ran his business simultaneously while he was president. Many other presidents, there were not too many rich presidents, but they were few. They were into their businesses. Obama made a deal for a book. Is that running for business? I am sure he didn’t even discuss it while he was president, yeah. He has a deal with Netflix. When did they stop talking about that? A couple of examples. Not huge wealth, George Washington considered to be a rich man at the time. George Washington had two desks, he had a presidential desk and a business desk. I don’t think you people with this phony emoluments clause. I would say it would cost me anywhere from 2 to $3 billion to be president.”

Trump went on to praise himself for having “the best properties,” and claimed that he would have made a fortune in business if he wasn’t president.

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Trump has so little reverence and regard for the Constitution that he called part of it phony. Trump also compared himself to Washington, which is ironic given Washington’s warnings about foreign influence and corruption in his farewell address. Trump is what George Washington warned Americans about.

The president’s comments were an admission that he scrapped his G-7 at Doral scheme because he was worried about the emoluments clause lawsuits. Trump is showing himself to be enemy from within that our Founders warned us about.

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Jason Easley

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