President Donald Trump’s business interests are once again a concern as the Deparment of Defense is scoping out rental real estate inside his New York City Trump Tower.
The military agency says that it needs the space to provide support to the President, who says he’ll use his Trump Tower offices on weekends to get a break from the White House. The department had a similar setup near Barack Obama’s home in Chicago, and on George W. Bush’s east Texas ranch.
DoD personnel will occupy some of the office space, in case they’re needed to brief the Commander-in-Chief on important issues, and for Executive-oriented day-to-day DoD operations that might normally take place in the Pentagon or White House if the President and his staff were in DC.
The difference with Trump is, he’s not giving the DoD the space for free – and rent inside Trump Tower can range up to $1.5 million per year for a floor. Since Trump still owns the building, those taxpayer funds, spent on arming the President, could go directly into the President’s own pocketbook.
Despite Trump’s claims that he was taking care of potential conflicts of interest, the DoD rental contract could provide the embattled President with an entirely new one. A Pentagon spokesman told the Washington Post that the agency is trying hard to keep the arrangement aboveboard, “working through appropriate channels . . . to acquire a limited amount of leased space in Trump Tower.”
His real estate interests have been Trump’s biggest hurdle to defending against claims that the Presidency is financially benefitting his family. Last week, the Trump Coporation finally filed paperwork naming Trump’s son, Donald Trump, Jr., the President of DC’s Trump hotel, months after questions about the hotel’s management arragement first surfaced.
At least there, the Trump leased the property from the Federal government.
