The Trump family, rather than viewing public office as a public service, has instead treated their 2016 election victory as the ultimate business opportunity. That notion keeps popping up again and again.

The Trump real estate empire is targeting red states

Advertisement:

One of the inherent contradictions of Donald Trump's political appeal is that he often seems to do best among people who are less likely to use his luxury hotels. If Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have their way, however, this won't be true for much longer. The Trump Organization has already signed more than two dozen letters of intent in Texas and a number of Southern states, with the obvious goal of cashing in on their dad's popularity in those regions.

Trump is turning another one of his golf clubs into his summer getaway

As we've pointed out before, the problem with Trump constantly using his own resorts as personal getaway spots is that his retreating there serves as de facto advertisements for those facilities — a major conflict of interest in its own right. What's more, the time he spends at these locations usually puts taxpayer money in his pocket, from security costs to the occasions when he has major guests (such as President Xi Jinping of China) over.

Advertisement:

So far Trump's favorite getaway has been his resort in Mar-a-Lago, but it seems like he wants the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, to see some action too. New reports indicate that's where he will be staying over the summer months.

The State Department had a blatant plug for Mar-a-Lago — then removed it

Think I was exaggerating about the president using his trips to Mar-a-Lago as an excuse to plug his resort there? From April 5 until this week, the State Department had a blog post up that actively promoted the president's Mar-a-Lago resort. It has since been taken down due to the controversy that ensued, but while it was up the blog described "the winter White House" as a place that had "become well known as the President frequently travels there to work or host foreign leaders."

Advertisement:

Trump isn't draining the swamp, he's importing muck

If Trump meant to clean up Washington when he talked about "draining the swamp," then he has failed miserably. How else can you describe having a former campaign manager, a major fundraiser, and your vice president's former chief of staff all proceed with lucrative careers as lobbyists shortly after his election victory?