What Trump's really campaigning for: More time to stuff your money into his own pockets

President Trump has been stuffing his pockets with taxpayer cash. According to the Washington Post, which obtained payment receipts with a public records request, "taxpayers have paid Trump’s businesses more than $900,000 since he took office." More than half of that total is due to presidential travel expenses — but their figure is by no means a comprehensive total. It will take a major investigation to figure out just how much Trump has profited personally off the presidency.

All of it is an egregious violation of the Constitution. Article II, Section 1, states that while he is in office, the president "shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them." An emolument is any kind of payment or gift. The obvious intention is to prevent the president from abusing his authority to enrich himself — it's democratic republic 101 stuff.

Yet that is exactly what Trump has been doing for the last four years. Mysteriously, congressional Democrats refused to include public looting in their impeachment brief against Trump, but it is beyond clear that if he wins another term, that is what will happen — another four years with both his hands deep in the pockets of the American people.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up