Letter to the Editor: Disregard of the Emoluments Clauses

Dear Editor:

An emolument refers to the exchange of compensation for a favor. The Emoluments Clauses were enshrined in the U.S. Constitution to ensure that our presidents do not enrich either themselves, or their families, under the name of the President. Per the Constitution, to do so is an impeachable offense. The clauses consist of two sections, one addressing foreign, and the other domestic, improprieties. The premise is that tangible gifts can be construed as bribes that could potentially influence the president’s policies.

Following is a list of actions of our current president, of which some are blatantly illegal, while others violate the spirit of the clauses. Unfortunately, the current congressional majority is unwilling to denounce these actions. I would think that the American public would consider any violation of these clauses to be undermining to the trust and faith of our government, thus reducing our country’s standing to the level of any third world, autocratic regime. Following are thirteen examples of this abuse:

1) Not divested himself of his personal businesses, breaking from decades of presidential precedence, 2) accepting the gift of a luxury jet from the country of Qatar, 3) accepting large donations from wealthy donors to fund the East Wing ballroom and other of his pet projects, 4) the pardoning of Joseph Schwartz, previously sentenced for defrauding the government out of $38 million who’s “get out of jail free” card was his $1 million donation to a Trump lobbying firm, 5) the pardoning of Changpeng Zhao, a crypto billionaire who invested $2 billion towards his sons’ World Liberty Financial, 6) making millions off the promotion of his family’s crypto enterprise, 7) the pardoning of Trevor Milton, convicted of security fraud, who donated $2.5 million to his campaign, 8) The launching of the mobile phone “Trump Mobile”, 9) his wife’s $27 million profit from her movie documentary, 10) the compensated appointment of his sons to government administrative positions, 11) extorting $63 million from media conglomerates to fund his future presidential library, 12) awarding two billion-dollar government contracts to his sons’ drone and mining ventures, and 13) receiving an estimated $7.8 million from foreign governments relating to the use of his various personal properties. And the list goes on and on.

Worthy of note, the accumulated wealth of the Trump Enterprise has grown by nearly $1.5 billion since Trump was elected in 2024. 

You can blame past administrations of actions similar to the above, but none near to the level of the current president’s abuse. All of us should ask ourselves, “what ethical conduct should we expect from the President of the United States?” 

Dan Close

Greybull