Friend -
Yet another Trump administration nominee is a Trump Organization customer: Judy Shelton is a proposed nominee for the Federal Reserve Board, and in the weeks leading up to her nomination this month, she repeatedly visited and stayed at the Trump Hotel in DC. Not only that, but she suggested hosting world leaders at Mar-a-Lago to develop a new currency system.
In a new examination, we look more closely at Shelton’s patronage of the Trump Hotel, and Trump’s history of nominating customers to high-profile positions—he’s nominated or considered nominating multiple members of Mar-a-Lago and other Trump-owned clubs to ambassadorships.
President Trump doesn’t just see his properties as a way for potential nominees to curry favor, he also sees it as a way to line his pockets—he continues to spend significant time at his properties, resulting in the federal government spending millions of federal dollars at Trump properties on expenses from lodging to golf carts. He spent last weekend at his Bedminster, NJ golf club, one of many expensive trips to his properties this year alone.
It’s all part of the toxic corruption and conflicts of interest at the heart of Trump’s refusal to divest from his businesses when he took office. We can’t let this become the new normal—after two and a half years, it’s easy to let one more visit to one of his private clubs pass by without much notice. But every time, we need to remember: it is not normal for the president to continue to own and profit from an extensive network of businesses. It is not normal for the federal government to spend millions that go directly toward the president’s bottom line.
These conflicts of interest are not normal, they’re not ok, and we will keep raising the alarm as long as the corruption continues.
Thank you,
Noah Bookbinder
Executive Director, CREW
