Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Made over $420,000 Selling Access to the President-elect on New Year's Eve

[CousinIT]

"The transition is not concerned about the appearance of a conflict," a spokesperson said.

According to Politico, Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida charged a reported minimum of $525 per person for a New Year's Eve celebration that Trump and his family were set to attend. On Friday, Trump's incoming White House press secretary told reporters that the party was "sold out," with over 800 guests expected at the event. That's more than $420,000 made off of dinner, dancing, and access to the incoming President of the United States.

Incoming White House Director of Strategic Communications Hope Hicks attempted to dismiss concern that the Mar-a-Lago's pricy New Year's Eve Party comprised yet another conflict of interest issue for Trump. "The transition is not concerned about the appearance of a conflict," she told Politico. "This is an annual celebratory event at the private club, like others that have continued to occur since the election. Additionally, the president cannot and does not have a conflict."

To be clear, simply saying "the president cannot and does not have a conflict" in no way eliminates the obvious potential conflict of interest. Previous issues include but are not limited to Trump's hotel in Washington D.C. and its pay-for-play potential, Trump's attempt to prevent development on British wind farm because it would block the view from his golf course, and his diplomacy-disrupting call to Taiwan after scoping out the possibility of building Trump property in the region. There are a lot of other examples.

While Trump has said his sons will take over his business, many have suggested that the only way for Trump to truly avoid conflicts of interest is by divesting his assets entirely. As ethics expert Norman Eisen put it in an interview with Chuck Todd, "There is no way that Donald Trump can serve as the president of the United States and hang onto this enormous web of domestic and international businesses and keep an interest in them. He’s going to be conflicted, there’s going to be a cloud, a question every time he makes a decision. … He’s going to stumble over the Constitution."

http://www.teenvogue.com/story/trump-mar-a-lago-conflict-of-interest

[Takket]

1. but hillary has taken fees for speeches so

She's just as bad

#buttheemails

[AmericanActivist]

2. tRump is the epitome of UNFIT he's the most

corrupt, unqualified, incompetent man who could not have "won" unless it was rigged like he said all along.

[democratisphere]

3. Pay-for-play-in-chief extrordinare

Depends on the fact that a new sucker is born every minute.

[RobinA]

4. Throwing A Party

and charging people admission? Is that a rich person thing? Me, I have people over for free.

[Horse with no Name]

5. he is so fucking cash poor it isn't funny

why is he still campaigning for cash??

[C_U_L8R]

6. Most corrupt President ever

and he's not even President yet.

[Little Star]

7. Teen Vogue? Well I'll be damned.....

Who knew teens could be this political & read articles like this one. Good on them!

[jmowreader]

9. Teen Vogue has been ripping into Dickhead Donald fiercely for quite some time

[Raine]

8. yet many of the poorest cash poor people in this country voted this grifter

into office so that the 1% can tell him how to screw them out of what little they have. :