Day 1,279: Wishing alleged child sex-trafficker well and a report of blatant corruption: all in day for Trump

During Tuesday’s coronavirus briefing, Donald Trump was asked some off-topic questions toward the end of the briefing. One such question related to Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell and charges related to the recruitment and sexual abuse of minors. Trump acknowledged meeting her on many occasions and added, “I just wish her well, frankly.”

There were so many answers that would have been appropriate for Trump. “I have no comment on that, we’ll let the process play out,” or “We’re focusing on COVID-19 right now,” to name two. Instead, he wished well an alleged child sex trafficker.

A story of blatant Trump corruption broke on Tuesday as well.

According to a report in The New York Times, Trump pushed U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Woody Johnson, in a pretty apparent emoluments clause violation under the Constitution, to secure the British Open golf tournament at Trump’s resort in Scotland.

The ambassador’s deputy, Lewis A. Lukens, advised him not to do it, warning that it would be an unethical use of the presidency for private gain, these people said. But Mr. Johnson apparently felt pressured to try. A few weeks later, he raised the idea of Turnberry playing host to the Open with the secretary of state for Scotland, David Mundell.

Trump’s request to Johnson follows other attempts by Trump to get high-profile events to his golf properties by any means necessary as they experience financial turmoil.

It was not the first time the president tried to steer business to one of his properties. Last year, the White House chose the Trump National Doral resort in Miami as the site of a Group of 7 meeting. Mr. Trump backed off after it ignited a political storm, moving the meeting to Camp David before canceling it because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr. Trump also urged Vice President Mike Pence to stay at his family’s golf resort in Doonbeg, Ireland, last year during a visit, even though the vice president’s official business was on the other side of the country. That trip generated headlines for the golf club, but also controversy. And Mr. Trump has visited his family-owned golf courses more than 275 times since he took office, bringing reporters with him each time, ensuring that the resorts get ample news coverage.

The losses at the British resorts have come even after the family made costly investments to build or upgrade their courses, including $150 million at Turnberry. The most recent annual report for Turnberry shows it lost nearly $1 million, on $19 million in sales, in 2018.

Trump views the presidency as a way to enrich himself, and the evidence for that piles up by the day.

1,279 days in, 183 to go

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