President Donald Trump repeatedly appeared to admit he is still running his real estate and resort businesses, despite promising the American people he was “turning over complete and total control to my sons.”
In heated remarks at a noon cabinet meeting President Trump compared himself to President George Washington, saying the nation’s first president also ran a business while serving in the nation’s highest office.
“I’m very good at real estate,” Trump also said, according to pool reporters, suggesting he is still involved in The Trump Organization.
“I own a property in Florida,” Trump continued, speaking about the Doral in Miami, where he had decided (and ultimately reversed) to host the G-7. “I would have given it for nothing.”
That statement suggests he is still making decisions for The Trump Organization.
“The Democrats went crazy, even though I would have done it free,” the president continued, again suggesting he has not given up control of his business empire.
“I don’t need promotion. I don’t need promotion,” he said, again suggesting he is being made aware of the state of his businesses.
He also said he is losing money and that being president is costing him between $2 billon and $5 billion annually, figures he would not know if he had walled himself off from his businesses as he told the American people he would.
Saturday night, in announcing he would reverse his widely-condemned decision to host the 2020 G-7 at the Doral, Trump took to Twitter and said: “I announced that I would be willing to do it at NO PROFIT or, if legally permissible, at ZERO COST to the USA. But, as usual, the Hostile Media & their Democrat Partners went CRAZY!”
Again, his statement strongly suggests he is still making decisions for The Trump Organization.
On Sunday White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney revealed President Trump “still considers himself to be in the hospitality business.”
Journalist E.J. Dionne said that “is confessing that Trump has never cut himself off from his businesses, even though Trump claims he has.”
Washington reportedly did own businesses while president. The rules were not as strict in 1789, but that doesn’t make Washington perfect, as some have noted too.
Image of George Washington via Wikimedia