Most voters support Trumps Mass Deportation of Illegals, Pew Survey

[webfact]

U.S. State Department website posts article on Trump's Florida resort

By Yeganeh Torbati

REUTERS

 

FILE PHOTO: The Mar-a-Lago estate is shown before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump departed with his family for New York, after spending the Thanksgiving holiday with family, in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., November 27, 2016. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/File Photo

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. State Department website on Monday took down an article it published this month about President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort which had prompted criticism from prominent ethics experts that the piece represented use of public office for private gain.

 

The original article was posted on April 4 on the "Share America" website, overseen by the State Department's Bureau of International Information Programs. It was also shared on the websites and social media pages of several U.S. embassies, including those in the United Kingdom, Portugal and Albania, as well as the State Department's Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs.

 

Although it was posted weeks ago, the article surfaced on Monday when it was shared widely on social media.

 

The State Department removed the article's content around 7 p.m. on Monday, replacing it with a short statement saying its intention "was to inform the public about where the President has been hosting world leaders. We regret any misperception and have removed the post."

 

The article described the history of Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, and its size, status as a registered historic site, interior decoration and oceanfront location.

 

"By visiting this 'winter White House,' Trump is belatedly fulfilling the dream of Mar-a-Lago's original owner and designer," socialite and cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, the article said. "Post's dream of a winter White House came true with Trump's election in 2016."

 

A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the White House did not know about the article in advance, and declined to comment further.

 

Norman Eisen, ethics chief under Trump's predecessor, Democratic President Barack Obama, said on Twitter that the article violated a federal statute barring the use of public office for private gain.

 

Richard Painter, a former ethics lawyer for Republican President George W. Bush, said on Twitter that the post constituted "use of public office for private gain pure and simple."

 

Scott Amey, an attorney with the nonpartisan Project on Government Oversight, said the post may not be an outright endorsement of Mar-a-Lago, but that "someone inside of the government should have said 'no' to the story and further helping Trump make money while serving in the White House."

 

The "Share America" article said that in 1973, Post willed the estate to the U.S. government, intending it to be used as a winter White House for the president to entertain foreign dignitaries.

 

But Presidents Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter never used the property, and in 1981 the government returned the estate to the Post Foundation because it was costing too much to maintain, according to the article.

 

Trump, a businessman turned politician, bought the property in 1985, and turned it into a club open to dues-paying members 10 years later, it said.

 

The club has a $200,000 membership fee, and Trump has hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the resort. Trump's frequent visits there have come under scrutiny due to their expense and questions of how he has handled sensitive national security information while there.

 

Trump maintains ownership of his global business empire, though he has handed off control to his two oldest sons, an arrangement that ethics watchdogs said would not prevent conflicts of interest.

 

(Additional reporting by Lesley Wroughton and Steve Holland in Washington; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-04-25

[Srikcir]

There is only one White House for all seasons of the year and it's in Washington DC.

[Andaman Al]

^^^

 

Well the thing is also that it is not quite winter anymore ! So what is his excuse next? The Spring Whitehouse? the Summer Whitehouse? He is taking the American people for complete idiots, and the response is they continue to let him.

 

Trump may well be impeached, but everyone in congress and the Senate must hang their heads in shame for years to come as they stood by and let him continue. 100 days - my God!

[heybruce]

" Richard Painter, a former ethics lawyer for Republican President George W. Bush, said on Twitter that the post constituted "use of public office for private gain pure and simple." "

 

People are concerned about a State Department post that constitutes use of public office for private gain, but are they concerned about Trump's blatantly using the office of the Presidency to promote Mar-a-Lago for private gain?  Trump double the membership fee after the election, announced that it was the "Winter White House" and started spending weekends and hosting official dinners there at enormous cost to the taxpayers. 

 

I'm not surprised that Trump is using the Presidency to enrich himself, I figured that was his motive from the beginning.  I am surprised at how blatant he is, and how little attention these gross ethics violations are getting.

Edited April 25, 2017 by heybruce

[Jingthing]

They are getting attention but there is so much that warrants attention from the horror show that is the trump "presidency" that has made it difficult to focus. That seems intentional. 

Edited April 25, 2017 by Jingthing