Donald Trump’s first act as “president elect” – building Trump hotels on two foreign continents
Seventeen days after Donald Trump was named the winner of the 2016 election and assumed the title of “president elect,” the American people have been waiting with trepidation for how he would carry out the role. The answer: he largely hasn’t. Apart from several new Twitter tantrums, two private meetings in which he berated journalists, and a series of brief videos which make it look like he’s in hiding, Trump has done little one way or the other. Perhaps that’s because he’s been so busy using his new title to line up Trump hotel deals on foreign continents.
Three days after Donald Trump took a congratulatory phone call from the president of Argentina, construction immediately began on a new Trump branded hotel in Argentina, says the Washington Post. And if one is tempted to wonder whether that’s a mere coincidence, it turns out Trump also has a new hotel under construction in Georgia. No, not the Georgia in his own country. The former Soviet Republic of Georgia.
Not only has Donald Trump begun immediately using the title of “president elect” to fast track his own personal business deals around the world, and not only is he doing so in blatant fashion, it appears it’s more or less the only thing he’s been doing of substance since the election was called for him. Trump is now shying away from his new role so thoroughly that he’s begun refusing his daily intelligence briefings.
But if you’re concerned about Donald Trump’s apparent total lack in doing the job of President in favor of using his title to swing personal business deals on hotels, his recent behavior may actually be working against him. His wheeling and dealing has put him in direct violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, making it easier to impeach him – and giving the Electoral College more of a reason to simply give the Presidency to someone else next month.
