A bridge too far – or maybe a plane too far

This week’s article from The Hill encapsulates the shock  of the brazen corruption by the Trump administration. This is tied to the gift of the new Air Force One plane from Qatar to President Trump, which will be taken by him after he leaves office, and it will be then a gift to his presidential library. This potential gift comes into direction opposition to the constitution, specifically the Foreign Emoluments Clause.” This is the stuff the Founders actually worried about. Remember them? The powdered-wig crowd who obsessed over how republics collapse — not with a bang, but with a bribe. Alexander Hamilton warned about foreign corruption seeping into our institutions.” This clearly shows that they thought that a president shouldn’t receive gifts from foreign countries and went on to specify this in the US Constitution.

During the first administration Trump was less blatant, foreign countries were paying for rooms at Trump’s hotel in DC, so the question was whether it did come under the Foreign Emoluments Clause. The US Supreme Court avoided ruling on this and the main issues were who could sue in those cases. This time round, having seen what happened earlier, it would seem that this time the groups bringing the lawsuit will be clearer. And this time there is no subtlety, if he accepts the gift from Qatar, it is a clear-cut example of an emolument. A direct constitutional violation. There have been very many articles and light on this and hopefully this will stop the gift. It would have been better if the president simply hadn’t considered the possibility, but we can hope for the best.

Link:

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/5298860-trumps-luxury-qatari-plane-is-laughably-corrupt/