President Donald Trump has spent much of his second term so far doing, well, exactly the sorts of things he would be doing if he weren’t president. He’s been busy renovating the White House to more closely resemble his gilded temple to opulence at Mar-a-Lago. He’s been hawking wares with his name slapped on them to anyone willing to open their wallet. And at least one branch of the military has been given the chance to give back to their commander in chief directly.
Forbes reported Friday that bottles of Trump-branded wine and cider were available for purchase at two Coast Guard Exchanges, which “sell tax-free goods to members of the Coast Guard and other qualified customers, such as active duty and retired military, and civilian employees.” A display of the Trump-brand beverages was posted on Instagram last week, before Forbes confirmed their presence with both the Washington, D.C., and Centreville, Virginia, stores.
There were some details the magazine couldn’t confirm, including how many bottles had been sold and whether other military exchanges or government locations also have Trump-brand alcohol for sale. Don’t bother going to look for yourself, though. “Clerks at the two confirmed stores said they were sold out, with one adding that they do not expect to restock it,” Forbes reported. But Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin did confirm the inventory’s initial presence and the shamelessness of her statement is par for the course with this administration: “The brave men and women of the USCG are pleased to be able to buy Trump wine and cider tax free.”
The gauzy patina of separation between the president’s day job and his side hustles has grown thinner over the course of this year. The New Yorker’s David Kirkpatrick estimates that, as of August, Trump and his family have raked in more than $3.4 billion since he was sworn in for his second term. Forbes’ Dan Alexander, one of the top trackers of Trump’s net worth, put the Trump haul at $3 billion as of September. Whatever the exact total, the bulk of that increase comes from investments in the family’s $TRUMP cryptocurrency, which since its launch last year has sparked questions about influence buying — both on a personal level for the Trump family and in an effort to keep the lucrative crypto market largely unregulated.
But back to the branded beverages. As for the winery, it’s owned on paper by an LLC in Eric Trump’s name. While he and his older brother, Donald Jr., aren’t part of the administration, they’ve been quick to leverage the presidency on behalf of their family’s businesses. Just last month, the president was caught on a hot mic during his recent international jaunt to Egypt trying to arrange a meeting between Eric and the president of Indonesia, where the Trump family recently inked a golf course deal.
Is all this leaving a sour taste in your mouth? Jordan Libowitz, a spokesperson for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, says there is probably no explicit law being broken by the president selling branded wine and cider to servicemembers. He told Forbes that this is “is one of those things where there probably isn’t any legal issue, but there is an optics and an ethics issue.” Even if there is no emoluments violation, the president profiting off the military feels sketchy at best — not just any government employee, but the commander in chief finding a way to funnel military salaries into his own pocket.
From where I’m sitting, there’s something truly unsettling about Trump’s personal enrichment on the dime of people who have volunteered to serve and protect the country.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
