Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:44 pm
Donald Trump is faced with attacks on all sides over possible conflicts of interests in his administration, conflicts even Newt Gingrich admit exists, though his solution is to simply change the rules to make it okay for Trump to do what no other president has been allowed to do.
This morning, Trump’s tweeted defense was centered on his son Eric, who is apparently so afraid of getting in trouble he is going to stop fundraising:
This was Eric Trump’s lament Wednesday evening: “As unfortunate as it is, I understand the quagmire. You do a good thing that backfires.”
The president-elect picked up on that this morning, pushing the claim that all these nasty restrictions were hurting the children:
My wonderful son, Eric, will no longer be allowed to raise money for children with cancer because of a possible conflict of interest with…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2016
my presidency. Isn't this a ridiculous shame? He loves these kids, has raised millions of dollars for them, and now must stop. Wrong answer!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 23, 2016
This hyperbolic response typically falls far short of the mark, and Media Matters’ Eric Boehlert remarked if you think “Trump’s son really cares abt helping kids w/ cancer I know a bridge that just went up for sale in NYC.”
The Daily Beast reminds us that, in fact, Eric Trump’s foundation is a lot like his dad’s: a private bank account.
The younger Trump swears his foundation gives all of its money away to good causes. Which is true, if you don’t count the cash spent on Trump-owned resorts. Or the plastic surgeon.” Like how the “‘Charity’ spent $880K at family-owned golf resorts.”
But according to a Daily Beast analysis of annual IRS reports and New York state financial disclosures from the charity’s inception in 2007 to 2014, the most recent year for which data is available, ETF spent $881,779 on its annual Golf Invitational at Trump-owned clubs, a portion of which—$100,000 in 2013 and $88,000 in 2014—was reported as paid directly “to a company of a family member of the Board of Directors.” In other words, Donald Trump himself.
Yes, one can see at once how the cessation of fundraising activities is going to hurt kids with cancer: not much at all. No wonder Trump is upset. All this nonsense about protecting us from his conflicts of interest are upsetting his bottom line.
Of course, this morning’s flurry of lies is not about and Trump’s objections have never been about kids with cancer or any kids at all. The president-elect has repeatedly expressed his disdain for the restrictions the Constitution demands must be placed on his business dealings.
Trump’s complaints this morning are all about greed and the corrupt infrastructure to feed that greed.
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