In January 2017, as Donald Trump was about to take the oath of office, he made a pledge to donate all profits from foreign governments at this Trump Hotel in D.C. At a press conference, Trump’s tax attorney, Sherri Dillon, announced the pledge:
Just like with conflicts of interest, he wants to do more than what the Constitution requires. So President-elect Trump has decided, and we are announcing today, that he is going to voluntarily donate all profits from foreign government payments made to his hotels to the United States Treasury. This way it is the American people who will profit.
The pledge was meant to skirt the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which explicitly forbids government officials from accepting payment and gifts from foreign governments.
[N]o Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them [i.e., the United States], shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
In the last year, foreign governments from around the world have kept Trump’s D.C. hotel bustling with one event after another. So how much has Trump donated to the United States Treasury? Not one single penny.
From CBS:
Today, after a year in which groups associated with Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Kuwait have booked rooms, hosted events and spent thousands of dollars at the president's hotel in Washington, no such payments to the Treasury have been made. Trump officials, who have openly questioned how closely they should scrutinize their guests, initially pledged to make a payment at the end of 2017 and now say they would have "information to share" near the end of next month.
An Associated Press analysis of the promises Trump made to draw a "red line" between his businesses and his administration found that, while he has kept to the letter of many pledges, he has exploited the vague language of others, creating at least the appearance that he's profiting off his presidency.
Since his inauguration a year ago, the Trump Organization has secured dozens of trademarks from foreign governments, pursued possible projects in Scotland and the Dominican Republic, enjoyed free publicity from Trump's frequent visits to his resorts, raked in big profits from lobbyists and power brokers at his Washington hotel, and launched two hotel chains.
"My overall ethics grade for the Trump administration is an F," said ethics lawyer Kathleen Clark of Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.
Donald Trump is driven by profit and flattery. It is not unreasonable to deduce that a foreign government could easily flatter and manipulate him by spending big at his D.C. hotel and padding his own personal bank account (or that of his adult children.) Never before has someone so clearly appeared to violate the emoluments clause. We ask this a lot and it is applicable every single day, but can you imagine for one second if President Hillary Clinton were personally profiting from foreign governments every single day of her presidency? People would be at the White House with pitchforks and cable news would be running 24/7 scandal graphics.
None of this is normal. None of this is acceptable. Trump must be held to the same standards as former and future presidents.