The most frightening thing about the New York Times interview with Donald Trump wasn’t anything new. It only confirmed what had been clear from every debate, every previous interview, and those long-vanished press conferences—Trump’s knowledge of most issues is thinner than paper, and his interest thinner still.
There’s only one issue that matters to Trump. Exactly one.
And in one area, Mr. Trump remained quite inflexible: He made clear he has no intention of selling his businesses and stepping decisively away from corrupting his presidency with an exponentially enhanced version of the self-dealing he accused Hillary Clinton of engaging in.
Trump has already demonstrated, multiple times, that he’s willing to use his position as president-elect for actions that are indistinguishable from old-fashioned extortion. There’s no reason to think he won’t intensify those actions once the “elect” is removed from his title.
When the story of Trump’s post-election conversation with the Argentinian president first surfaced, both ends of the discussion disputed that Trump had pressed for approval of a business venture. However, just days later that long awaited approval miraculously came through.
… Reuters later confirmed that Ivanka Trump — who is a key player in the family business — was also on the call. The very next day, the investment group building the $100 million Trump-branded tower in Buenos Aires announced that they were moving full speed ahead, and that they “just barely need to take care of a few administrative details.”
If Donald Trump were getting on the phone and promising foreign leaders US support in exchange for cutting him a check, it would clearly be illegal, but Trump believes he’s protected by funneling this demands through his business. That doesn’t make it one bit more moral or one inch less dangerous.
U.S. media has largely breezed past the story. But foreign press reports paint a complicated picture of the relationship between the Argentine government, Trump’s Argentine real estate partners, and the emerging Trump administration. Those reports lend further support to the existing evidence that Trump and his adult children are leveraging the presidency to advance their business interests.
US media has largely “breezed past” every story of Trump’s astounding corruption. The president-elect agreed to pay out $25 million for a fraud case, admitted multiple instances of self-dealing at a “charity” through which he funneled tax-free money for his own purposes, leaned on a UK politician for help with his Scottish golf courses, and discussed means of using the power of the presidency to increase the value of properties in India.
And it’s not slowing down.
When President-elect Donald Trump spoke to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Nov. 9, he mentioned one of his Turkish business partners as a “close friend” and passed on his remarks that he is “your great admirer.” …
Vouching for his Turkish business partner in the call with Erdogan is just the most recent sign of Trump’s near-impossible task in avoiding the significant conflicts of interest his global real estate business presents. During the campaign he promised to separate himself from his business and to work only for the American people.
Donald Trump is skipping out on intelligence briefings and shows little interest in any policy. He’s turned down opportunities to learn the duties of office, passing along that task to Mike Pence. Instead Trump is willing to appoint billionaire ideologues to positions of power and let them do as they please.
Trump’s blatant money-grubbing isn’t just as immoral as demanding a plane load of cash, it’s even more dangerous. His business partnerships and assets in foreign countries represent positions and property that he will no doubt move to protect. That makes every Trump partner a political obstacle; every Trump building a potential target.
As far as Trump is concerned, there’s only one department of the government that matters—the Department of Trump. In that department, he’s Secretary and CEO. A kleptocracy does more than just rob a nation of money, it also steals its effectiveness, its flexibility, and its dignity.