Trump and the Wide World of Emoluments
There are two
clauses in the U.S. Constitution that prevent the president from being
influenced directly or indirectly by outside sources, either foreign or
domestic. The Foreign Emoluments Clause, article I-section 9-clause 8, prohibits the
president from accepting payments of any kind from foreign governments without
the express approval of Congress. The Domestic Emoluments Clause,
article II-section 1-clause 7, states that the president is limited to his salary and
prohibits him from accepting payments of any kind from U.S. taxpayers, also
without the express approval of Congress. Congress refused to let Lincoln keep
elephant tusks presented to him from the King of Siam. Andrew Jackson wasn't
allowed to keep a gold medallion from Simón Bolívar.
On Monday, Oct. 21,
in a Cabinet meeting, Trump referred to these very real parts of the
Constitution with, "You people with this phony Emoluments Clause."
His frustration comes from his being forced to cancel the use of his Florida
Doral property to host the 2020 G-7 summit after personally deciding a few days
prior on the venue. The G-7 summit would pump millions into the failing
property whose net operating income has fallen by almost 70% since 2015 (1),
and has a documented bedbug infestation problem. (2)
Trump recently
admitted that he is in the hospitality business and he tried to diffuse the
Doral emolument problem by saying it could be done at cost. Both of these show
that Trump has not separated himself from the Trump businesses as he has
claimed and that he personally profits from their use. Trump has multiple
domestic and foreign properties that, when used by customers, violate the
Emolument Clauses. Trump's Washington D.C. hotel is a glaring violation of both
emolument clauses.
The House has
proposed voting on a resolution that expressly condemns the use of Doral for
the G-7 summit. Since the proposal, Trump cancelled Doral for the G-7 and the
House vote may be postponed. The resolution should go further than the
Doral/G-7 issue and essentially declare, with full and unambiguous
Constitutional authority, that the Trump businesses, everyone of them, violate
the Constitution while Trump is president. It should also clarify that Trump
has not received permission from Congress for emoluments and is unlikely to do
so. Trump opened a can of worms when he selected Doral. His greed should result
in all of his properties being declared closed while he is president.
With or without the
House resolution, Trump is blatantly violating both emolument clauses. He has
two options: shut down all of his businesses, or resign.
John L Ferri
(1) - Fahrenthold
& O'Connell, Washington Post, May 15, 2019.
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