Donald Trump May Have Just Committed an Impeachable Offense
China’s decision to gift the president a valuable trademark this week could violate the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.
EMILY JANE FOX
FEBRUARY 16, 2017 9:25 AM
94330658
Donald Trump gives a thumbs-up before boarding Marine One on his way to Mar-a-Lago on February 3, 2017.
By Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.
President Donald Trump’s first month in office has been dogged by one misstep after another—botched executive orders and attacks on the judiciary, punctuated by bizarre, and often inappropriate, boasting about the size of his electoral victory and inauguration crowd. He has done little to address the cavalcade of scandals that have already become a defining feature of his presidency, from the shadow of intrigue hanging over his campaign’s dealings with Russia to his undiplomatic threats against U.S. allies, derailing any momentum on his inchoate legislative agenda. There’s an inquiry into his ownership of the Trump International Hotel just down Pennsylvania Avenue, a call to discipline his counselor Kellyanne Conway for giving his daughter Ivanka’sbrand a “free commercial” on Fox News, and an investigation underway about whether or not there’s enough security in place at Mar-a-Lago after the president decided to review national-security documents on a terrace at the Palm Beach resort last weekend in plain view of prying dinner guests.
Still, there is some good news for Trump and his personal brand, if not for his already embattled administration. According to ABC News, Trump received a big, fat gift from China this week in the form of a 10-year trademark on his name for construction.
RELATED VIDEO: Steve Bannon, the Shadow President
The award marks a sudden reversal of fortunes for Trump, who had reportedly been trying to win the valuable rights to his name for a decade. Interestingly, the Chinese government came through for him one month after he took the oath of office and a week after his conversation with Chinese president Xi Jinpingduring which he endorsed the One China policy. After years of battling to take back the rights to his name from a man named Dong Wei, Trump’s registration was made official on Tuesday and announced by China’s trademark office on Wednesday.
There are several problems with this. First, it is easy to see how the approval of the Trump Organization’s application can be viewed as a foreign government giving favorable treatment to a president’s business, even though Trump has allegedly removed himself from day-to-day operations. His two adult sons still run the company, and since he did not divest, he still benefits from any financial gains. Second, with that financial benefit, ethics experts note that this could be leverage for the Chinese government to use over the president. And third, despite the fact that most conflict-of-interest laws don’t apply to the president, such a ruling from the Chinese government may violate the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits a president from accepting any gift or anything of value from a foreign government or entity. A trademark, whichTrump appeared to value for a decade, could be perceived as unconstitutional.
“It’s fair to conclude that this is an effort to influence Mr. Trump that is relatively inexpensive for the Chinese.”
Trump’s attorneys in China say the ruling in his favor was made on the strength of his legal claim, not his position. “It is not possible that President Trump got favors from Chinese government,” Zhou Dandan of Unitalen Attorneys at Law in Beijing told The Washington Post. Alan Garten, chief legal officer at the Trump Organization, told the Associated Press that Trump’s trademark application predated the election. The Chinese government has also recently tightened its standards for intellectual property rights, including issuing new rules forbidding people like Dong Wei from trademarking the names of public figures, like Trump.
Critics see an attempt by Beijing to use its influence over Trump’s business dealings to control the president. “There can be no question that it is a terrible idea for Donald Trump to be accepting the registration of these valuable property rights from China while he’s a sitting president of the United States,” Norman Eisen, a former White House ethics lawyer for President Barack Obama, told the AP. “It’s fair to conclude that this is an effort to influence Mr. Trump that is relatively inexpensive for the Chinese, potentially very valuable to him, but it could be very costly for the United States.”
Eisen is among a group of former White House lawyers, constitutional scholars, and prominent litigators currently suing the president over foreign governments paying to stay at his hotels and renting space at his office buildings. The group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, alleges that accepting such payments violates the Emoluments Clause. (Trump’s lawyer has stated that it does not, because hotel payments are a fair value exchange, and that cannot be considered an emolument.)
However the lawsuit proceeds, this is a question Trump is likely to face repeatedly throughout his presidency. In China alone, ABC reports, Trump has 49 pending trademark applications and 77 already registered, most of which will come up for renewal while he is in office. At the same time, the Trump Organization is planning to expand its hotel footprint across the U.S., which means more opportunities for foreign governments to try to curry favor with the Trump family by booking rooms and banquets.
The silver lining, and there aren’t many, is that there is so much chaos surrounding President Trump and his administration that an ethically ambiguous trademark approval easily gets swallowed up. At least business is moving forward just fine.
This article has been updated.
China’s decision to gift the president a valuable trademark this week could violate the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.
EMILY JANE FOX
FEBRUARY 16, 2017 9:25 AM
94330658
Donald Trump gives a thumbs-up before boarding Marine One on his way to Mar-a-Lago on February 3, 2017.
By Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.
President Donald Trump’s first month in office has been dogged by one misstep after another—botched executive orders and attacks on the judiciary, punctuated by bizarre, and often inappropriate, boasting about the size of his electoral victory and inauguration crowd. He has done little to address the cavalcade of scandals that have already become a defining feature of his presidency, from the shadow of intrigue hanging over his campaign’s dealings with Russia to his undiplomatic threats against U.S. allies, derailing any momentum on his inchoate legislative agenda. There’s an inquiry into his ownership of the Trump International Hotel just down Pennsylvania Avenue, a call to discipline his counselor Kellyanne Conway for giving his daughter Ivanka’sbrand a “free commercial” on Fox News, and an investigation underway about whether or not there’s enough security in place at Mar-a-Lago after the president decided to review national-security documents on a terrace at the Palm Beach resort last weekend in plain view of prying dinner guests.
Still, there is some good news for Trump and his personal brand, if not for his already embattled administration. According to ABC News, Trump received a big, fat gift from China this week in the form of a 10-year trademark on his name for construction.
RELATED VIDEO: Steve Bannon, the Shadow President
The award marks a sudden reversal of fortunes for Trump, who had reportedly been trying to win the valuable rights to his name for a decade. Interestingly, the Chinese government came through for him one month after he took the oath of office and a week after his conversation with Chinese president Xi Jinpingduring which he endorsed the One China policy. After years of battling to take back the rights to his name from a man named Dong Wei, Trump’s registration was made official on Tuesday and announced by China’s trademark office on Wednesday.
There are several problems with this. First, it is easy to see how the approval of the Trump Organization’s application can be viewed as a foreign government giving favorable treatment to a president’s business, even though Trump has allegedly removed himself from day-to-day operations. His two adult sons still run the company, and since he did not divest, he still benefits from any financial gains. Second, with that financial benefit, ethics experts note that this could be leverage for the Chinese government to use over the president. And third, despite the fact that most conflict-of-interest laws don’t apply to the president, such a ruling from the Chinese government may violate the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits a president from accepting any gift or anything of value from a foreign government or entity. A trademark, whichTrump appeared to value for a decade, could be perceived as unconstitutional.
“It’s fair to conclude that this is an effort to influence Mr. Trump that is relatively inexpensive for the Chinese.”
Trump’s attorneys in China say the ruling in his favor was made on the strength of his legal claim, not his position. “It is not possible that President Trump got favors from Chinese government,” Zhou Dandan of Unitalen Attorneys at Law in Beijing told The Washington Post. Alan Garten, chief legal officer at the Trump Organization, told the Associated Press that Trump’s trademark application predated the election. The Chinese government has also recently tightened its standards for intellectual property rights, including issuing new rules forbidding people like Dong Wei from trademarking the names of public figures, like Trump.
Critics see an attempt by Beijing to use its influence over Trump’s business dealings to control the president. “There can be no question that it is a terrible idea for Donald Trump to be accepting the registration of these valuable property rights from China while he’s a sitting president of the United States,” Norman Eisen, a former White House ethics lawyer for President Barack Obama, told the AP. “It’s fair to conclude that this is an effort to influence Mr. Trump that is relatively inexpensive for the Chinese, potentially very valuable to him, but it could be very costly for the United States.”
Eisen is among a group of former White House lawyers, constitutional scholars, and prominent litigators currently suing the president over foreign governments paying to stay at his hotels and renting space at his office buildings. The group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, alleges that accepting such payments violates the Emoluments Clause. (Trump’s lawyer has stated that it does not, because hotel payments are a fair value exchange, and that cannot be considered an emolument.)
However the lawsuit proceeds, this is a question Trump is likely to face repeatedly throughout his presidency. In China alone, ABC reports, Trump has 49 pending trademark applications and 77 already registered, most of which will come up for renewal while he is in office. At the same time, the Trump Organization is planning to expand its hotel footprint across the U.S., which means more opportunities for foreign governments to try to curry favor with the Trump family by booking rooms and banquets.
The silver lining, and there aren’t many, is that there is so much chaos surrounding President Trump and his administration that an ethically ambiguous trademark approval easily gets swallowed up. At least business is moving forward just fine.
This article has been updated.
