With the election of Donald Trump as US president, many American observers learned for the first time that many government ethics and nepotism rules do not actually apply to the Chief Executive himself. Rules makers apparently assumed anyone elected president would treat the office with the utmost respect, as Barack Obama did.
But when Trump promised on the campaign trail to govern like no other, he was not kidding. He has installed his daughter and son-in-law in key White House jobs and awarded sensitive positions all over the federal government to unqualified, venal political supporters and industry lobbyists. Trump first lied about and then refused to reveal his tax returns or meaningfully divest himself of his many business interests.
A major public facet of Trump’s businesses has been the numerous agreements he forged with firms to put his name on their products. The Washington Post recently revealed the results of an exhaustive survey of the many products that were marketed under the Trump brand at the beginning of his presidency less than 18 months ago.
At one point earlier in this century, over 20 companies in different countries on several continents sold merchandise bearing the Trump name. The concept apparently originated in the early 2000s with the then-outlandish proposal to Van Heusen shirt makers that it pay Trump to put his name on its products.
Trump was then staggering in the aftermath of a rough period when his name was most well known for corporate failures, bankruptcies and divorces from first wife Ivana and Marla Maples. Van Heusen turned down the proposal.
Things would change. Within five years, Van Heusen and others were marketing Trump branded items, for millions of dollars a year. Trump cologne was “a masculine combination of tonka bean, birchwood and musk.” Trump steaks “represent Mr Trump’s power”, a publicist reportedly boasted as the brand was launched.
There were Trump branded leather goods, Trump mattresses, Trump vodka, Trump coffee, Trump bedding, Trump eyeglasses, Trump throw blankets, Trump chandeliers, and lots of menswear, from suits to cufflinks. There was even a Trump branded urine test.
The CEO of the Luxury Institute, a high-end product consultancy, told the Post that Trump products represented “a caricature of what wealth is – as opposed to what it really is”. Trump products “appealed to those who didn’t know the difference”.
Now, after 15 months of Trump’s presidency, only two Trump brands remain. One features Trump housewares marketed in Latin America. The other is home furniture made in Turkey. Presumably, Trump’s insulting behaviour and disparaging comments about other nations and immigrants have severely damaged his appeal.
But what persuaded Van Heusen and all the others to market Trump goods in the first place? It is generally accepted the turning point was the 2004 debut of the phenomenally successful TV reality show “The Apprentice”. Trump hosted the show for many seasons and became a major television star.
The show’s popularity and financial success led to two spinoffs and the resuscitation of Trump’s finances. New York City’s media darling became a household name across the US, and through television licencing arrangements around the world.
As the Trump brand spread, the mogul’s real estate empire grew. Trump luxury buildings have sprung up in various corners of the world. Many were condominium towers, and the Robert Mueller investigation in Washington DC may reportedly probe the businesses of partners who have enriched Trump in these endeavours.
If he does investigate these deals, Mueller could look at projects in Azerbaijan, Panama, Vancouver, New York City and the so-called Little Moscow area on Sunny Isles just north of Miami Beach. Rumours of money laundering and other crimes have long surrounded Trump’s flashy real estate ventures.
Among other publications, The New York Times is following this story closely. It has joined others in implying Trump’s businesses may be subject to prosecution under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as twice amended, which “makes it a crime for a United States company to act with wilful blindness toward the corrupt activities of a foreign business partner”.
Last year, Trump derided the law as “horrible. The world is laughing at us”. Who will laugh last?
Comments
ThisIsOurs 5 years, 11 months ago
Interesting. There's a local lesson for us too. The US has taken the position that REAL ESTATE is ONE OF THE MOST FREQUENTLY EMPLOYED MECHANISMS FOR MONEY LAUNDERING who buying up all the property? Does it still not matter how you made your money? And can you still bypass the law if you sign a lease agreement?
bobneville 5 years, 11 months ago
ok ok, so you dont like 'the donald' but do you know why? is it because he kicked your girl's butt? mr.trump has done more good things for his country in one year ,than obama did in eight,and by the way;your two informers new york and washing post are proven leaders in what mr yrump term fake news they tell more lies than mrs clinton.i know why you have to demonize mr trump,you gone and got yourself caught neck deep in the swamp and you all need some one to blame you should have made that left at Albuquerque.anyway with all those bad traits mr trump still won,so the names you are calling mr trump you are also calling the american people that is what hate does to one,shame on you for falling in that mire,at least you can speak bad about mr trump ,yuo didnt dare say anything good or bad about obama.talk about sore loosers anyway i still love ya.
milesair 5 years, 11 months ago
Trump is the worst President the U.S. has ever had. He is also the worlds biggest liar. He wouldn't know the truth if it bit him on his behind. He lies about everything. He lied about paying Stormy Daniels $130,000 for her services which one of his henchman admitted that he did in fact pay anyway. He is such a classless act. Talking about touching women by their private parts and having been married multiple times which has apparently made him the darling of christianist ministers and other religious perverts. He had his affair with Daniels while married to his current wife while she was pregnant So much for the sanctity of marriage! He wants to build a wall along the southern U.S. border to keep out the "brown people" just like the communists did to separate the former east and west Germany. He thinks Nazi and skin heads are "good people" while calling people from certain other countries "$hit hole countries." He spews hate everyday by way of twitter without any regard to facts. I wish that right-wing knuckle dragging idiots would finally realize that Obama is no longer President and get over it. Hillary is not President because the U.S. is not a real democracy. She won the popular vote (despite Trump's lies about illegal aliens voting). Don't give me the "sore looser" nonsense because I did NOT vote for her either. The stone age electorial college has been very good for Republicans having helped elect two GOP jerks in the last 18 years. Try and get a voter registration card anywhere in the U.S. without a birth certificate and proper I.D. You won't be able to get to vote. Trump's excuse that 3 million illegal aliens voted is just another one of his lies to justify the fact that he did NOT win the popular vote. His GOP tax scam looks out for his rich friends and corporate buddies at the expense of a soaring deficit and does not help the poor or middle class, just the rich. This has made the deficit even worse. So much for fiscal responsibility! Trump is a threat to the U.S. Constitution because he wants to do away with freedom of the press and freedom of speech among other things. Trump is such an egomaniac that he wrote his own letter regarding the state of his health, despite another lie that the statement came from his doctor. Imagine what kind of hate we would hear from the right-wing fascists if Hillary had done the same thing! You would NEVER hear the end of it! Finally, if you want the REAL news, you have to avoid watching Faux News which is nothing more than U.S. government sponsored propaganda. Facts don't matter to them either. I get my news from Free Speech T.V., Democracy Now, Free Press and other foreign news sources and NOT the U.S. corporate controlled media propaganda machine. The sooner Trump is removed from office, the better off the world will be, that is if we all don't die before Trump starts World War 3!
paul_vincent_zecchino 5 years, 11 months ago
Bob Neville, above, well said it.
About all one can add by way of commentary on this unfortunate, disappointing, truth-free 'editorial' is, what a pile of shite.
I do not say that lightly. We've had thirty years of globalist poseurs destroying our country, harming our friends, cozying up to our enemies, and separating citizens from their liberty and wealth.
Trump is the first since President Reagan to put things right. No one is perfect. But President Trump is a breath of fresh air after three decades of dreary, globalist errand boys.
Paul Vincent Zecchino Manasota Key, Florida 08 May, 2018
The guano piles out in the Caves have more credibility.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID