Dem
47
GOP
53
The Constitution bans the president from getting emoluments from any source, domestic or foreign, other than the presidential salary Congress has approved by law. What is an emolument, anyway? Dictionary.com says it is: "profit, salary, or fees from office or employment; compensation for services." "Profit from office" definitely falls in that category and Donald Trump has made over a billion dollars from crypto alone, according to his new financial disclosure report. For example, he netted $526 million from sales of (worthless) crypto tokens issued by World Liberty Financial LLC, a company his sons founded along with Steve Witkoff. U.A.E. royals bought 49% of the company in a murky deal that has not been fully disclosed.
Trump has also earned $77 million from his properties and licensing his name to developers. His actual non-real estate "businesses," which are actually all grifts, have done terribly. The best is Trump watches, which brought in $4.7 million, Trump Bibles, which generated $208,000, and Trump Sneakers and Fragrances, which got him another $67,634. If Trump Fragrances come from Trump Sneakers, we can understand why this has not been a big moneymaker.
Then there was the $400 million 747 Qatar gave Trump. It made its maiden voyage with him aboard yesterday. The destination: North Dakota. What better place to show off his new toy, where only two airports can handle 747s, making them a somewhat rare sight.
Recent presidents have put their assets in blind trusts upon assuming office. In Trump's case, not only has he not done that, his two oldest sons are continuing to run his business and make foreign deals in countries that are affected by U.S. policy in various areas. Trump could have hired a financial manager to sell his real estate and put the proceeds in mutual funds of various types and other investments without disclosing to him where they were invested so he wouldn't have known about conflicts of interest. But that is definitely not his style. Probably a constitutional amendment, one of many, is needed to fix this going forward.
When confronted, Trump lied and said his business dealings are those of a private company dealing with foreign private companies. But the meaning of "private company," in the various one-party and authoritarian states where he does business, is fuzzy at best, when the leader and his family and cronies own almost everything of value. What is clear is that countries that have been friendly to his business ventures have gotten U.S. government goodies that normal private businesses can't give. Vietnam got tariff relief. Qatar got access to advanced computer chips that Joe Biden banned them from having. Saudi Arabia got the latest U.S. fighter jets that it has desired for years. Trump also said he made his money due to the rising stock market. That is completely false. His assets are largely in crypto and real estate, not stocks. The market has not treated his flagship stock, DJT, well, as shown here:
As you can see, DJT's predecessor, DWAC, opened at $94.20 on Oct 18, 2021, dropped down, then soared to $101.87 on Feb. 28, 2022 after Trump's Truth Social app rolled out on Apple's App Store. Yesterday DJT closed at $7.89, meaning anyone who bought it during the frenzy in Feb. 2022 has lost over 90% of their investment. Of course, Trump didn't lose anything since he didn't pay for the stock. He got it for free, so whatever little it is worth is still pure profit.
Trump will not be punished in any way while he is president for violating both the domestic and foreign emoluments clauses of the Constitution. What about afterwards? It is hard to say. The Supreme Court's grant of immunity is probably not germane here, since running businesses on the side and taking gifts from foreign powers is not part of the constitutional duties of a president. Also, as far as we know, there are no specific laws banning taking emoluments, so Trump can't be charged with violating one or more federal laws, because there aren't any relevant laws. Congress could pass some such laws, but they wouldn't apply to transactions done before they were passed. There might be grounds for civil suits, but who would have standing to sue?
Also noteworthy is that J.D. Vance pulled in over $7 million last year, from book royalties, investments, and his venture capital firm. This is the most wealthy executive duo in modern times. (V)