DONALD TRUMP is finding that it pays to be president. Since last November, prices at his properties have surged: the cheapest cocktail at the Trump International Hotel in Washington is now $24, up from $16. The initiation fee at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida—where he hosts foreign dignitaries—quietly doubled to $200,000 in the weeks before his inauguration. Mr Trump visits his own hotels and golf courses about twice a week, augmenting their visibility. He is vacationing this month at Trump National Bedminster, a golf club in New Jersey where he interviewed potential cabinet members after the election. A new “director of diplomatic sales” has steered Kuwaiti and Saudi Arabian bookings away from rival DC hotels to the Trump International. In the words of Mr Trump’s son Eric, the family brand is now ”the hottest it has ever been”.
That may be great news for the Trump Organisation, but America’s constitution seems to frown on a president using his office for personal enrichment at the hands of foreign leaders. In recent months, three...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/2vfCILF
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