Donald Trump tries to personally profit from his Texas flooding visit
Donald and Melania Trump visited Texas today in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, at a time when the devastating and deadly flooding in the city is still growing worse. It was inappropriate for them to visit this soon, as they’re creating a distraction for law enforcement and local officials. But even more inappropriately, Trump is using the trip to try to turn a personal profit, and he’s not even trying particularly hard to disguise it.
Trump spent portions of his visit, including a televised press conference, wearing a hat that said “USA” on the front. That would be all well and good, but this is actually a campaign hat that also says “45” on the side to denote that he’s the 45th president. It turns out he’s selling these hats on his donaldjtrump.com website for forty dollars apiece. His website even brags that it’s the same hat Trump has been wearing:
So where are the profits going from these “USA 45” hat sales? The money is not going to the USA, and it’s certainly not going to help those who have lost their homes and livelihoods in Houston. Instead the money is going to Donald Trump’s reelection fund. That would be bad enough, but as has been previously documented, Trump’s supposed 2020 campaign is little more than a cash grab. He’s merely pretending he’s already running for reelection so he can fundraise money, which he’s been using for purposes such as paying his son’s legal bills in the Russia scandal. That saves Trump from having to pay those bills out of his own pocket, which means he’s profiting from it.
In other words, Donald Trump is using his visit to Texas to market his own line of hats so he can personally profit from the resulting sales. This comes even as people in Houston are reduced to sleeping on the roofs of their houses, and the city is desperately trying to figure out how to save itself from total ruin. This alone is an impeachable offense.
