Trump is giving every indication that he will not be avoiding conflicts of interest with his businesses.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/20/us/po ... tners.htmlWashington ethics lawyers said that a meeting with Indian real estate partners, regardless of what was discussed, raised conflict of interest questions for Mr. Trump, who could be perceived as using the presidency to advance his business interests.
Yeah, because
that is what'll sink his presidency.
The same week, Mr. Trump’s daughter Ivanka — an executive at the Trump Organization hotel chain — attended a meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan. The move drew criticism from former State Department officials, given that Ms. Trump does not have security clearance and is helping run the family business enterprises.
Look, the Trump blind trust can see! It's a miracle! Praise jebus and hallelujah!
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/19/us/po ... .html?_r=0This week, Ms. Trump’s jewelry company sent out a notice to reporters with a photograph of her wearing a $10,800 gold bangle bracelet that she had worn during an interview her family did with “60 Minutes,” trying to use the appearance as an opportunity to sell more items.
“Please find attached a style alert of Ivanka wearing her favorite bangle from the Metropolis Collection over the weekend on 60 Minutes,” Monica Marder, the vice president for sales at Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry, said in the email.
Flogging the $10800 bracelet she wore during a 60 Minutes interview? Sounds about right. Let's consider the criticism, "Hey, Trump family, that's really not classy!"
Or how about, "You ran as the champion of the forgotten, blue collar workers of America, and you do this?"
The Trump family is going to make a fortune off of this gig.
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016 ... omats.htmlWASHINGTON—About 100 foreign diplomats, from Brazil to Turkey, gathered at the Trump International Hotel this week to sip Trump-branded champagne, dine on sliders and hear a sales pitch about the U.S. president-elect’s newest hotel.
The event for the diplomatic community, held one week after the election, was in the Lincoln Library, a junior ballroom with 16-foot ceilings and velvet drapes that is also available for rent.
Some attendees won raffle prizes — among them overnight stays at other Trump properties around the world — allowing them to become better acquainted with the business holdings of the new commander-in-chief.
Let's pause so you can scrape your brain off your surroundings and smoosh it back into your skull.
“Believe me, all the delegations will go there,” said one Middle Eastern diplomat who recently toured the hotel and booked an overseas visitor. The diplomat said many stayed away from the hotel before the election for fear of a “Clinton backlash,” but now it’s the place to be seen.
In interviews with a dozen diplomats, many of whom declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak about anything related to the new U.S. president, some said spending money at Trump’s hotel is an easy, friendly gesture to the new president.
“Why wouldn’t I stay at his hotel blocks from the White House, so I can tell the new president, ‘I love your new hotel!’ Isn’t it rude to come to his city and say, ‘I am staying at your competitor?’” said one Asian diplomat.
Eh, you may as well just leave your gray matter on the wall... it'll keep ending-up there over the next four years anyway, so just go with it.
And, not every diplomat (in this case, former) is down with this whole pile of turds.
“The temptation and the inclination will certainly be there,” said Arturo Sarukhan, a former Mexican ambassador to the United States. “Some might think it’s the right way to engage, to be able to tell the next president, ‘Oh, I stayed at your hotel.’ If I were still in government I would discourage it, among other reasons, because it can be questioned and looked at in a very poor light, as though you are trying to buy influence via a hotel bill.”
The former
Mexican ambassador, no less.
Surely, everyone is thinking, "This can't be legal, I demand justice! Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock.... wait, what?"
The Trumps opened the hotel in the Old Post Office Pavilion, a 117-year-old property the company leases from the federal government. Officials at the General Services Administration, the landlord, have consulted the Office of Government Ethics about how to handle such conflicts, but the measures preventing other federal employees from profiting from their positions do not apply to the president.
“Consequently, there is no current legal requirement that would compel the President to relinquish financial interests because of a conflict of interest,” an analysis produced last month by the Congressional Research Service at the Library of Congress said.
Rest assured, the hotel's general manager thinks you're stupid (probably because you left your brain oozing down the wall, dummy):
The hotel’s general manager, Mickael Damelincourt, said in an interview that business had been picking up before the election and that interest has surged for the inauguration. Hotels throughout the city, as well as Airbnb users, are charging higher rates because of increased demand.
“I got 50 calls in the last day, from some very important people, and we have no space,” Damelincourt said.
He said he didn’t think inauguration guests were coming to his hotel in order to curry favour with the president-elect. “I don’t think that has an effect on the hotel,” he said.
Folks, the last thing we should do is get all worked-up into a righteous fury, because nobody gives a fuck, and the reality is the masses have been thoroughly conditioned to shrug this sort of thing off, not to mention...
http://www.vox.com/2016/11/19/13685762/ ... istractionHamilton!
http://www.ew.com/article/2016/11/19/do ... lton-tweetUPDATE: After deleting a tweet about Hamilton on Saturday night, Donald Trump renewed his attacks against the Tony Award-winning musical, calling the show “highly overrated.”
“The cast and producers of Hamilton, which I hear is highly overrated, should immediately apologize to Mike Pence for their terrible behavior,” Trump wrote on Twitter. According to producer Jeffrey Seller, Trump has never asked for tickets to see Hamilton himself.
HAAAAAAMMMMMMIIIIIILLLLLLLTTTTTTTTOOOOOONNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!
A quantum state of signature may or may not be here... you just ruined it.