Trump Stress-Tests the Constitution

Zachary Wolf: “President Trump, by his simultaneous existence as a real estate tycoon and President, continues to test the U.S. Constitution in ways that the founding fathers didn’t anticipate and for which the current legal and political systems are completely unprepared.”

“The founders didn’t specifically anticipate a hotelier President pushing his golf resort as the ideal location for an international meeting of heads of state. They didn’t specifically say an Air Force crew couldn’t use taxpayer dollars to stay at a resort owned by the President in a foreign country, which may or may not be suffering as a result of his presidency.”

“They didn’t anticipate the President’s subordinates would begin serially staying at his properties or planning parties at them, potentially currying favor with their boss. And they didn’t anticipate a President who would be so willing to push every rule to the breaking point — or be so cavalier about the appearance of self-dealing.”

“But the real problem is that Congress hasn’t, either. There’s nothing on the books curtailing any of this — which means that the President could be in violation of the Constitution without breaking the law.”