4/10/2019

DEFENSE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP BUSINESS: “Defense Department personnel have charged more than $300,000 at Trump-branded properties since the start of Donald Trump’s presidency through last November, according to internal agency documents obtained by CNN. The transactions range from lodging expenses at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, to restaurant tabs at the Trump International Hotel in Washington to parking fees at the Trump National Doral Golf Club in Miami. While all modern US presidents have traveled with military aides, the number of properties owned by Trump’s company earning money from taxpayer dollars have led some government watchdogs to argue the arrangement breaches ethical norms and potentially violates a clause of the US Constitution. Critics say Trump’s businesses should not profit from government money while he is in the White House. The documents show defense personnel charged about $173,000 at Trump properties on their travel cards between October 2017 and November 2018. This adds to the roughly $138,000-worth of charges on Defense Department Visa cards at Trump properties between January 2017 and August 2017, as CNN previously reported.”

Curt Devine, “Defense Department charged $300,000 at Trump properties since 2017,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, April 10, 2019 6:03 pm