It may be pure coincidence that, just after T-Mobile announced a $26 billion merger with Sprint last year, its executives developed a fancy for a little establishment that happens to be owned by Donald Trump. Right as the telecom company, which stands to more than double its value in the merger, began seeking government approval for the deal in April, C.E.O. John Legere and other top T-Mobile executives patronized the Trump International Hotel in Washington as “VIP Arrivals,” according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. In the months since, executives have stayed at the president’s Pennsylvania Avenue hotel roughly 38 nights. Legere appears to have made at least four visits, and another executive has returned at least 10 times, though as the Post points out, the numbers could very well be higher, as their documentation is incomplete. (Neither the White House nor T-Mobile contested the paper’s findings.)

“It’s become a place I feel very comfortable,” Legere told the Post in the hotel’s lobby last week, praising the establishment for its “fine service” and “good security.” He added, “At the moment I am in town for some meetings at the Department of Justice . . . and it’s very convenient for that.”

To be fair, the hotel is located a convenient distance from the D.O.J. But as everyone from American politicians to lobbyists to the government of Saudi Arabia seem to have figured out, lining the president’s pocketbook by patronizing his establishments is also a convenient way to attempt to curry favor with the White House. T-Mobile is perhaps the most brazen example of this kind of ring kissing, because, as the Post observes, “the company’s executives were expected at the hotel so soon after announcing they needed a win in Washington.”

Trump’s sprawling business empire has long raised significant conflict-of-interest concerns—and he has frequently appeared to be using his office for personal profit. In the past, he has attempted to allay such concerns by claiming to have ceded control of the Trump Organization to his eldest sons, Don Jr. and Eric Trump. But the line between his personal business interests and his public office is as muddy as ever. Was it Businessman Trump or President Trump, for instance, who raked in an estimated $35 million in real-estate deals last year? Ethics experts have flagged this sort of ambiguity as a major problem: “It’s about perception of conflict of interest,” lawyer F. Joseph Warin told the Post back in November. “We want our leader laser-focused on fixing the problems of the United States and not diverted on commercial issues.” Yet those who benefit seem content to brush concerns under the rug. “Certainly not,” Legere told the Post when asked whether he thought his stay would earn T-Mobile preferential treatment. “I don’t know why it would.”

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