Instead of divesting, or at least placing his businesses in a “blind trust,” Trump’s continued control of his businesses while he’s president remains an enormous conflict of interest (even Jimmy Carter was forced to sell his peanut farm, of all things). Since he became president, the use of his hotels by other countries’ diplomats has skyrocketed. It’s effectively bribery, and it may even be so great that it counts as an unconstitutional “emolument.” A few cases have been raised, and it looks like one’s satisfactory enough that it’s being pursued by the courts.
Sharon LaFraniere in the New York Times:
A federal judge in Maryland on Friday ordered evidence-gathering to begin in a lawsuit accusing President Trump of violating the Constitution by maintaining a financial interest in his company’s Washington hotel.
The plaintiffs are seeking records that could illuminate potential conflicts of interest between Mr. Trump and foreign leaders or state officials who patronize Trump International Hotel, blocks from the White House.
The judge, Peter J. Messitte of the United States District Court in Greenbelt, Md., said the Justice Department had failed to show a compelling reason to hold up the case while its lawyers appeal his earlier rulings. He ordered the parties to come up with a timeline within 20 days to produce evidence.
The lawsuit, filed by the District of Columbia and the State of Maryland, seeks for the first time to define the meaning of constitutional language that restricts the president from accepting financial benefits, so-called emoluments.