Can you remember where you were when you first heard the word “emoluments?” Maybe not, but chances that vocabular encounter was pretty recent, as previous occupants of the White House have been careful to avoid any appearance of using their office for profit. Yes, Jimmy Carter really did sell his peanut farm—after which Republicans still appointed a special prosecutor and spent six months trying to create a scandal. But in these enlightened days, things are a little different:
The State Department spent more than $15,000 to book 19 rooms at the new Trump hotel in Vancouver when members of President Trump’s family headlined the grand opening of the tower in late February.
This wasn’t a presidential trip. It wasn’t a trip by Secretary of State Tillerson. And we’re not talking about the cost of the Secret Service. This was a trip featuring Donald Jr., Eric and … hey, look at that, Tiffany Trump, all in Vancouver to open a new Trump Hotel.
Such business trips by Trump’s children have put U.S. government agencies in a necessary — albeit potentially awkward — arrangement of engaging in taxpayer-funded transactions with the president’s private company while at the same time protecting the president’s immediate family. The president has refused critics’ demands to divest his assets and has instead placed his business empire into a trust controlled by sons Don Jr. and Eric.
But $15,000 worth of rooms for the State Department? Trump has already chopped the State Department budget and the staff. Why would the few staffers who remain be at a hotel opening?
The department redacted many of the details on the invoice from the U.S. Consulate General in Vancouver and declined to provide additional information about the nature of the State Department’s presence at the hotel.
Ah. No reason then, except that they were making sure that Trump didn’t have to leave the “vacancy” sign on during the grand opening. Since Trump doesn’t think the department is worth anything, it makes sense that he would grab them to serve as pointless room fillers.
Of course, it may be that Trump was worried about providing his children with translators who could speak Vancouverian.