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donald trump

This is only my opinion, and not the representation of Saintel Daily, LLC.

This past weekend, Donald Trump found himself on Twitter. That will not come as a surprise to anyone, nor will his message to the world. Trump’s tweet suggested that one of his Scottish golf courses (which also happens to be losing money) is perhaps the “greatest” course in the world. While we all know that Trump can be boastful, so the tweet in itself isn’t far fetched, but he might have taken it too far by saying that the course itself furthers relationships between the United States and the United Kingdom. In any other situation, that might be the case, but as the President of the United States of America, this kind of language suggests that his private asset is being used publicly. More on that in a moment, but let’s first talk about the tweet.

The president retweeted a message from the Trump Organization about the physical attributes of Trump International Scotland, which is located north of Aberdeen, calling the course “close to ideal” and suggesting that the landscape of the course itself is so ideal it has “no weak holes”. Many folks saw this as a way for Trump to promote his own business. And they’re not wrong. In fact, Walter Shaub, former head of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics felt the same way. Taking to Twitter he tweeted:

“This is Trump’s most explicit commingling of personal interests and public office to date.

This is the tone from the top that leads his appointees to violate ethics rules.

This is shameless, corrupt and repugnant presidential profiteering.

This is an invitation to graft.”

Walter Shaub, Former head of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics

Some might call this sour grapes on Shaub’s part as he is a regular critic of Trump, and resigned his ethics role that he held under Obama, when Trump became president. But he’s not the only one who thinks this is unethical. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) also chimed in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1Kz9MvDMgg

“There it is. The president is using an official statement as an ad for his business and making sure everyone knows he ties his business to U.S. relationships with foreign countries.”

Citizen for Responsible Ethics in Washington

This isn’t the first time that Trump’s business ties have called his politics into question. Trump is said to have been heavily involved in a project for a Trump Tower in Moscow after he announced his run for president . In fact, Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney indicated that Trump was still involved with this deal until June of 2016 – just months before the presidential election.

Trump has also indicated that he’s handed over his business dealings to his sons, but if that’s the case, why is he still tweeting about his golf courses? It’s interesting to me how Trump can spin when it’s ok to have this kind of involvement. For example – Trump’s business ties came under scrutiny after journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed by Saudi Arabia agents. Citizens should be more outraged about Trump’s inability to stay neutral, especially when his involvement with foreign governments can strain diplomatic relations or worse. I mean, just look at how his tweets have caused past issues with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Whether or not something will come out of Trump’s tweet, remains to be seen.