Being President get’s you a certain amount of notariaty and people are willing to pay to hear what you have to say in books and speaking fees, just to name two. The question isn’t how much money they have, but if that money was made unethically.
Patooka has outlined at least two examples of Trump using his office unethically to profit off the government.
Sorry to nitpick, I offered three examples. Example 1, Example 2 and Example 3. And they are small examples. The amount Trump has made in all of his grift WHILST being President is well in the hundreds of millions.
Ex-Presidents raking in the money in overpriced public speaking venues or releasing a book AFTER BEING PRESIDENT is hardly unprecedented. Pappadave provided at least two examples of this (Although Obama’s post-President fortune largely comes from the fact that most Americans are nostalgic for a time when their leader wasn’t a fascist dictator who sits on the toilet at 3am writing mean tweets about whatever the TV said about him that day). But Trump is the first “man” in history who has used the role of President whilst being President as a means to fatten one’s own wallet. If he truly cared about you or your country, he wouldn’t be charging you for all his golf trips.
All three of your “sources” are mostly BS (See, we can “fact-check”, too). Vox? Really? There is nothing in the Constitution that requires a sitting President to impoverish himself while serving. Washington himself continued to grow crops and sell them on the international marketplace for his entire tenure as President. In recent decades, only Jimmy Carter has had a career and source of income outside of politics and even HE continued to farm peanuts and sell them throughout his short time in the White House. Every President for the past 150 years with the sole exception of Harry S. Truman, and now Donald J. Trump, has left the Presidency wealthier than when he entered it. President Trump’s estimated fortune was a bit over $3 BILLION when he took office and is now estimated to be a bit over $2 BILLION today. Where do you suppose that other billion went? It wasn’t from receiving tens of millions from foreign countries to one’s phony “foundation,” and it wasn’t from being paid tens of millions for selling one’s ghost-written books.
I’m glad you used inverted commas correctly when you describe your methodology of fact checking. You don’t like the facts, therefore it must be BS. Solid logic. So instead of Vox, would you prefer:
Agreed. Wasn’t the point I was making.
Did he force the American government to buy them? If not, your comparison is irrelevant. Trump charged the American taxpayer for his golf trips. He forced soldiers to stay and spend money in his properties. He favoured foreign lobbyists who stayed in his hotel.
Can you prove that? I’m genuinely curious. Pretty interesting statistic, if that’s accurate.
Seeing as Trump doesn’t have the balls to release his tax returns, we’ll never know. But considering he is the only guy in history to lose money owning a casino, I’m guessing he lost that imaginary $1 billion through stupidity.
Speaking of ghost writers… And you might want to google what happened to the “totally legitimate” Trump Foundation. Spoiler; it doesn’t end well.
Not as heavy as you’re trying to make it out to be. As was noted, too often, the enemy wasn’t wearing a uniform (happens all the time; it’s called terrorism).
I think Old Dog gave a substantial answer to that.
Then it should. It might not have made the news where you live, but the Australian Defence Force recently concluded an investigation of Special Air Service soldiers committing war crimes in Afghanistan. Their findings lead to permanently disbanding 2nd Squadron, group citations were revoked across the board and 19 soldiers are facing prosecution of war crimes. Not sure if your internet is better but here is a video providing some context. “They might be terrorists”, is not an acceptable excuse when civilians are killed. And the Blackwater case is a clear cut example of mass murder.
If one fears for one’s life, yes it is an acceptable excuse. And if it’s so clear cut, why does it seem (as Old Dog showed) that they had to twist like a contortionist to get a conviction?
This?
I notice you didn’t mention the international summit, I forget what it was, early on that he wanted to host at his Mar-a-Lago resort because he knew it’s a top notch luxurious resort and he wanted to show off American excellence. Democrats objected that he would make a profit, so he ordered his number crunchers to come up with a price they could charge that was “at cost”. But that’s much easier to say than do. (Is the revenue lost from otherwise paying customers a “cost”?) He realized no matter what price he picked, evildoers could claim he was making exorbitant profit. (I suspect if he gave it away free, he would have been faulted for making illegal donations.)
If he profited by people staying at his business properties, he probably would have profited whether he was president or not. We knew he was a very successful businessman when we elected him in 2016. And accommodating the Secret Service is a big cost that all presidents accrue whatever they do, wherever they go.
You didn’t defend that claim. In fact, Republicans are slightly more inclined to cut taxes, take less power from people and champion individuals more. President Trump’s actions are head-and-shoulders above any other president, maybe even above Reagan. Though Reagan had a different problem to solve which he solved magnificently.
But President Trump has been a whirlwind doing the right thing on all fronts against unimaginably passionate hatred and obstruction. He’s shown us what it means to be indefatigable in the face of evil.
“Benefit of the doubt”? Seriously? No. I OBSERVE his actions.
Can you weigh that profit against the daily passionate hatred and unending wrongful attacks he has endured his whole time in office? Could you have tolerated it if that fraudulent dossier had been held over your head with the media asserting every day they had proof that you were a secret Russian agent? Even while you made life better for Americans every day? With the FBI, CIA and half of Congress champing at the bit to get you?
Besides, wouldn’t he have made much more profit if he weren’t president? He can’t chase new deals and businesses when he’s president. And even if he were inclined to take bribes like Joe Placeholder, he could never get away with accepting a $20 tip without being impugned in the press.
Do you think before you lay accusations, @Patooka?
That remains to be seen. We may find out on Wednesday if America is headed down the toilet and you’ll be right, or if freedom prevails and you’ll be wrong.
I stopped right here. Your such a shameless shill for Trump. There are at least a few R’s on this site that would admit what a load of crap that is.
He did it (wanted to host the G7 Summit) because it’s his resort (btw, it was Doral, not Mar-A-Lago) and he could make a profit off the taxpayer at exorbitant rates because Doral isn’t doing well. Anyone else would realize the terrible optics involved in using your own place of business to host a government function. The fact that he would even suggest, that it would even cross silently in his mind for a split second, that it was a good idea to suggest that he should host at his own property shows how daft he is. Which is why he relented after the backlash. Once can only wonder why he didn’t see that coming.
There are literally thousands if not 10’s of thousands of " luxurious resort(s) [where he could] show off American excellence.
Here are at least 7 better options if the goal is to “show off American excellence”. LOL.
Hint: none of Trump’s properties are on the list.
Thank you. I was going from memory.
That statement captures a crucial detail. Democrats are concerned about OPTICS. How it looks. Style over substance. Virtue signalling. Whereas Republicans are more concerned about results. How people are actually affected.
If the president’s existing legitimate businesses profit a little from him directing people that way, so what? The crucially important thing, is are you bringing manufacturing back to America?
Are you decreasing our dependence on our adversary, China?
Are you stopping foreign aid to countries that hate us?
Are you giving us more choices in the healthcare marketplace?
Are you making America energy independent?
Are you protecting our borders against criminals and taxpayer burdens?
Are you reducing the chances of terrorism?
Are you bringing our troops home?
Are you negotiating better trade deals?
Are you making progress toward peace in the Middle East?
Are you keeping our military capable?
Those are the things Republicans are concerned about, not optics.
Trump was concerned about money. Period.
The rest is denial.
Even if, it was 100% above board (which I doubt given the rates he charged at other events), but let’s just say it was, you can’t see the possibility of something like this being abused based on this precedent?
If you can’t, that explains a lot.
In light of the facts, that sounds incredibly idiotic.
It’s been fun, but you’re such a shill, I’m really not interested in debating. Let’s agree to disagree.
Respectfully
Me.
“Something like this” requires something. Can you see what it requires?
It requires the president to own sustainably profitable businesses to direct business to. Does Joe Placeholder own any businesses? Obama? The Clintons? Carter? I guess Jimmy was a peanut farmer, but I never heard anything about how that was doing.
Democrats don’t own businesses. They get rich in office, without any business. That’s the precedent I worry about.
You’re not “interested in debating” because you’re losing the debate. Show us WHERE in the Constitution it says that a President must impoverish himself in order to serve. Now show us a Democrat President who actually LEFT office poorer than when he entered it…other than Truman who had somehow managed to afford a New York City condo when he left. Remember that Hillary and Bill bought a mansion with a “carriage house” which the government spent millions on converting it to Secret Service quarters and pay an annual rent well over 6 figures to this day to “rent” on their behalf.
First, that would be pretty close to the dumbest thing you’ve ever said. You and Ken can form the shameless shill fan club.
I hope you live long enough to see Trump and the people that encouraged him as a trator.
My post can’t hold a candle for stupidity to most of yours, CSB. YOU are the shill here…shilling for the Marxists pretending to be loyal Americans.