Department of Defense looks to rent space in Trump Tower

[highplainsdem]

Source: WaPo

The Department of Defense is seeking to rent space in President Trump’s New York skyscraper, Trump Tower, a move that could directly funnel government money into the president’s business interests.

The U.S. military agency is “working through appropriate channels .?.?. to acquire a limited amount of leased space in Trump Tower,” Lt. Col. J.B. Brindle, a Pentagon spokesman, told The Washington Post in a statement late Tuesday.

“The space is necessary for the personnel and equipment who will support the POTUS at his residence in the building,” Brindle said.

-snip-

Defense officials would not say what they expected to spend on the space. But CNN, which first reported the news, quoted a leasing agent who estimated renting a floor in Trump Tower can cost about $1.5 million a year.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/department-of-defense-looks-to-rent-space-in-trump-tower/2017/02/07/6dec7252-edb0-11e6-9662-6eedf1627882_story.html

[hibbing]

1. What a grifter n/t

[Dustlawyer]

40. Not taking a salary, yea right!

[TexasTowelie]

2. Nothing to see here,

absolutely no conflict of interest.

[Solly Mack]

3. So he's moving back to his tower for good?

Otherwise?????

[Cosmocat]

34. Yes

I was telling this to people in November..

[Phoenix61]

4. WTF!!!!!

Unbelievable, I can't imagine the businesses around Trump Tower are happy that he will be living there.

[cstanleytech]

5. Now wouldnt this be a direct violation of the law?

The hotel in washington he could argue that its ok because at the time he signed the contract he wasnt President or even in any elected office but now he is in elected office so he either needs to provide the space free of charge, put his assets into a blind trust now or resign as president immediately.

[Stonepounder]

6. He was in violation of the Constitution the moment he took the oath of office.

Article I of the US Constitution reads, in part:

"And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”

So, any foreigner, who stays in any Trump hotel, plays golf on one of his courses, or anything else and who is either on an expense account from a foreign country or earns his income in a foreign country is channeling money from a 'foreign State' to the President.

But, even though a number of Democrats have tried to introduce legislation, the Rethugs won't allow it.

[cstanleytech]

7. Yes but you are missing a key thing there "without the Consent of the Congress".

The Repugnants that are in control of Congress are clearly ok with it so I doubt that will be invoked unless of course they decide they would rather have Pence in Trumps place.

[CousinIT]

10. Exactly. Congress fully consents to this blatant violation of the US Constitution. As long as...

...it's a REPUBLICAN doing it.

[cstanleytech]

13. If they consent it cant be a violation because it clearly says its ok as long as Congress consents.

I wish that clause didnt exist but *shrug* it does.

[0rganism]

20. Democrats should force Congress to make that consent public, frequently

remind the public exactly who is fighting for whom here, often
remind the public that Democrats are capable of fighting at all

[CousinIT]

43. They should. Adverts, OpEds, would help too. n/t

[Occulus]

29. Has Congress satisfied the requirement of their consent?

Does that requirement require affirmation, or only their silence? Does Congress need to do so officially?

[Scarsdale]

41. 9/11

When those towers were hit, tRump bragged that his building was now the tallest in the area. Prime target for terrorists, doncha think? I wonder if Mrs. tRump's father is deeply involved in all this? He was a leader of the communist party in their hometown. How did he and his wife get visas? This needs to be investigated.

[cstanleytech]

42. At a guess? The courts would probably say yes since it doesnt

specifically say.

[citood]

11. No

On a much smaller monetary scale, Vice President Biden did the same thing with a rental cottage.

If a property has a history as a rental, has a rate established, and is available...its fair game.

Now if the DD starts paying higher than market rate, that's a problem.

[cstanleytech]

15. Wouldnt the simple solution to the entire mess be for him to do the blind trust? He will still be

weathy once he is out of office then but it would take away a hell of alot of potential ethics problems he will be facing if he continues on this course.

[citood]

53. My (admittedly limited) understanding of a blind trust is this

He can't really put all his hotels and other businesses into a blind trust, and truly call it blind. He would still have detailed knowledge of how those businesses worked, and what moves he could make to benefit them.

Rather, for it to really be a blind trust, he would have to liquidate his assets, and a trustee would use the proceeds to make investments that were truly blind to Trump.

And that's the problem

- Large real estate sales take years - its hard to find a buyer for, say, Trump Tower
- Properties that are physically overseas would most likely be sold to foreign buyers, causing a whole new set of conflict of interest problems
- I have a strong suspicion that many of his properties are highly leveraged...meaning there are backers with lien authority...making a rapid 'fire sale' of his properties at a loss difficult
- A lot of these buildings, he doesn't own at all. Its a licensing deal - the owner just pays him to slap his (once popular) name on the building. Some of those deals are long term (although admittedly I suspect a lot of owners are itching to get out of them now).

I have NO IDEA what can be done to prevent the conflicts of interests..so I have no answers or solutions...but its such a mess I don't think a blind trust is feasible...or it would take an entire 4 year term for it to really happen.

[cstanleytech]

54. What about a trust that he doesnt control and that first removes the Trump

name from all the hotels and properties he owns and then is given free reign to randomly sell whatever of those assets it wishes over the next 4 years that it sees fit? That means he wont know for sure what if any hotels he will own in 4 years time which atleast would mitigate some of the complaints wouldnt it?

[citood]

56. That would mitigate some of the complaints, but not all

An unlikely example:

Trump owns a hotel in Philadelphia and a hotel in Baltimore.

Some agency has a conference/reason to meet with high powered business owners...say the DOT wants to meet with car company CEOs...and decide to do it in Philly.

Then the Philly hotel sells. Trump will know this, as a sale of a building would be public knowledge.

Then suddenly the conference is switched to Baltimore.

I can see how this would prevent long term planning for graft, but still would not prevent him from making short term decisions that could benefit him.

[ck4829]

50. Trump? Law?

[frazzled]

8. Someone wake me from this ridiculous bad dream

It's been going on for several weeks, and I can't make it stop.

[Cosmocat]

33. I got news for you

When this stupid ass country wakes up, he will be holed up their running it ...

[coco22]

36. +1

[dlk]

9. It's All Part of the Trump Money Grab

No one should be surprised.

[milestogo]

12. He can't find any other tenants because New York hates him so much.

[tenorly]

14. And because that building is REALLY starting to show its age.

For a place whose floors rent for $1.5 million a month, it's downright scandalous - well, like everything else about King Con.

http://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=http%3a%2f%2fwww.esquire.com%2fnews-politics%2fa49868%2ftrump-tower-what-a-dump%2f&d=4592107697407047&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&w=5o9l0sKwm50oP7AEvjLnh7WrkY8dnxOO

[Still In Wisconsin]

16. Sure! Why not? No conflict of interest there...

[iluvtennis]

17. Seriously?? Why is this allowed...obvious conflict of interest IMO.

[King_Klonopin]

18. And once again, if his last name was "Clinton", how would the repugs respond? nt

[Cosmocat]

32. Right

nm

[ck4829]

47. +1

[Cryptoad]

19. Them Thar Off shore Banks are going ,,,,,,

to have build some more vaults to hold all the money Trump is going to skim in the next four years.......

[Submariner]

21. If somebody lights up a joint in that building

do they send in SEAL Team 6 along with NYPD SWAT to kill the toker?

[In_The_Wind]

22. Is Donald relocating to NYC ? Will the Whitehouse living quarters be for rent ?

[Cosmocat]

31. YES

I have been telling people this since he got elected.

[Cha]

23. Tax payers money going right into stinky trump hotel

[Achilleaze]

24. frikken RepubliGrubbers enriching themselves at taxpayer expense

[weissmam]

25. I would love to see what

the trumpers think ABOUT THIS

[Else You Are Mad]

26. My guess is that..

They would approve of the idea and think Trump is just a smart businessman.

[Cosmocat]

30. He is going to run the country from TT

And, yes, Rs will be fine with it.

[ck4829]

48. "If Trump does it, it must be OK."

[liberal N proud]

27. But of course!

Fits Republican ideals perfectly

[ck4829]

49. American Kleptocracy

[Cosmocat]

28. I keep telling people and they don't get it

He us going to be running the country out of Trump tower ...

[harun]

35. Seems obvious to me. He hates DC.

I don't see why someone wouldn't get it. Bush did the same from his ranch.

[texasfiddler]

37. Democrats should put a bill on the floor

demanding Trump allow the space to be used rent free for American Tax Payer relief. This is something the Republicans would do and the "Merican" people eat it up.

[watoos]

38. I assume that the Secret Service

already rents space there? I know when I was working in Waco I took a drive to see if I could see Bush's ranch, er house (no cattle) There was a house where the Secret Service stayed across the road from the road that was gated going to Bush's house. It's truly in the middle of nowhere, all I saw was goats.

I think we need a more detailed explanation about who and what specific equipment are going to be transferred to TT.

I'm sure the Librul M$M will be all over this.

[hack89]

45. Where do you think the "nuclear football" will be when Trump is in NYC?

I suspect the space is for secure storage of secret material plus secure military communications.

[sinkingfeeling]

39. And there's just no other office space for rent in NYC? Or do they

just want to be a target?

[hack89]

44. The President has military aides that have to be in his presence 24/7

he is, after all, the commander in chief.

[ck4829]

46. Crooks

[Grammy23]

51. He is staying in the White House for the optics and as a backdrop for photos.

Don't be surprised when he continues to take trips to Palm Beach for breaks and to Trump Tower, ostensibly to see Melania and Barron. It will be subtle at first, but eventually he will spend more and more time in those places. The White House will be used as needed to provide the right setting for some things.

He never intended to live there for his term and it is doubtful that Melania and Barron will ever move to DC to live. If that does happen, it will be for a reason and you can bet that the current Mrs. tRump will be rewarded for her co-operation. (I doubt we will ever be privy to those rewards.) Once a gold digger.....always a gold digger. She didn't get where she is by accident.

[logosoco]

52. I wonder if it will be obvious to the people who brought us this nightmare

that the person who said they will make America great again thinks the White House is not a good enough place to live. He prefers tacky gold places over history.

[Yavin4]

55. Next up: Dept. of Education wants to buy Trump Textbooks for all schools n/t