Donald Trump’s highly abnormal presidency: a running guide for April
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Donald Trump made it clear at the beginning of his campaign that he wasn’t going to follow the normal rules or tone of politics. We’re keeping track of all the ways his presidency veers from the norm, in terms of policy and rhetoric.
See earlier updates from November, December, January, February, and March.
Day 78 April 7
Trump just settled yet another lawsuit even though he “never settles”
Despite President Donald Trump’s declaration that he never settles lawsuits, his namesake organization did just that Friday. Again.
In 2015, Spanish-born chef José Andrés pulled out of a lease to open a restaurant in the Washington, D.C.–based Trump International Hotel after the then-candidate called Mexican immigrants rapists and drug dealers. In return, Trump sued him. Now, two years later, Andrés and the the Trump Organization have settled.
Though Trump declared in a March 2016 presidential debate that, “I don’t settle cases,” this is far from the first time that he’s done just that. In 1973, Trump and the Department of Justice reached a settlement over the department’s claims that Trump Management, Inc. discriminated against renters of color. More recently, in November 2016, Trump paid out $25 million to settle fraud lawsuits against Trump University.
At the time, he took to Twitter to explain he settled that case only because being president was taking so much of his time.
The ONLY bad thing about winning the Presidency is that I did not have the time to go through a long but winning trial on Trump U. Too bad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2016
Though Trump’s sons Eric and Donald, Jr. now run the Trump Organization, Trump remains its owner. The terms of the settlement between Andrés and the organization were not made public.
Day 77 April 6
Jared Kushner didn’t tell the FBI about those times he met with the Russians
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor failed to mention dozens of his recent contacts with foreign government officials in his paperwork for top-secret security clearance.
When people seek clearance, they must fill out an intensive FBI questionnaire detailing any and all encounters with foreign officials dating back seven years, according to the New York Times. But Kushner, who has met with the Russian ambassador Sergey I. Kislyak and the chief of a Russian state-owned bank, didn’t describe those encounters — or several others — in his paperwork.
If the government decides that Kushner didn’t merely make a mistake but actually was “withholding, misrepresenting, or falsifying information,” he may be denied access to classified information or eligibility for positions. He may also face felony charges, punishable by up to five years in prison. While prosecutions are rare, they’re not unheard of.
His lawyer told the New York Times that his questionnaire had been submitted prematurely, and that Kushner would provide more information when the FBI interviewed him. That has yet to happen.
Day 77 April 6
Trump, without evidence, says he thinks Susan Rice committed a crime
President Donald Trump called a woman who has not been convicted of a crime a likely criminal on Wednesday, declining to provide any evidence — despite repeated requests.
Trump’s comments about President Barack Obama’s National Security Adviser Susan Rice were likely in reference to reports this week from Bloomberg View columnist Eli Lake and some conservative commentators that Rice had requested the “unmasking” of Trump associates in intelligence reports during the presidential transition last winter.
Names of American citizens not under surveillance are typically hidden in intelligence reports but some national security officials in the federal government are legally allowed to unmask people if there is a legitimate security rationale. Rice did not confirm or deny if she unmasked any names of Trump associates in an interview with MSNBC earlier this week. She said she had unmasked names in her role as NSA but “absolutely not for any political purpose, to spy, expose, anything.”
Rice has long been a favorite target of the right following her misleading statements on the Benghazi attacks in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election. Her reemergence this week allowed Republicans to deflect attention away from the questions surrounding Trump’s connections to Russia during last year’s presidential election and instead focus on President Trump’s as-yet unproven claims that President Obama wiretapped Trump Tower. Here is a partial exchange from the Times interview.
THRUSH: One last thing on that. Have you actually seen intelligence that leads you to believe that people other than Susan Rice are involved.
TRUMP: I don’t want to comment on anything about — other than to say I think it’s a — I think it’s truly one of the big stories of our time.
THRUSH: Do you think she might have committed a crime?
TRUMP: Do I think?
THRUSH: Yeah.
TRUMP: Yes, I think.
Day 76 April 5
Kushner’s newest White House hire specializes in promoting horror movies
President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner found someone with experience peddling fear to Americans to work in the White House — he just hired Josh Raffel, a publicist for a horror production house.
Raffel previously headed communications for Blumhouse Productions, the company behind horror films like The Purge, Paranormal Activity, and Get Out. His new federal gig is a position on Kushner’s so-called “SWAT team” of strategic consultants, called the White House Office of American Innovation, which aims to infuse government operations with business world ideas.
Raffel’s history with Kushner might help explain how he got his new gig — he previously represented Kushner’s family company while working for Hiltzik Strategies, a communications and consulting film.
Still, though the hire is somewhat ironic, Raffel is definitely familiar with the Trump administration’s ethos — his firm even used the slogan “Keep America Great” to promote the Purge sequel, “Election Year”.
Day 75 April 4
Trump calls Syrian chemical weapons attack a “consequence” of Obama’s “weakness”
President Donald Trump lashed out at Barack Obama Tuesday, saying his policies led to a deadly chemical weapons attack in Syria.
“These heinous acts are a consequence of the past administration’s weakness and irresolution,” Trump said in a statement put out by the White House.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is believed responsible for the attack, which reportedly killed at least 70 people, including 11 children. But President Donald Trump saved his sharpest barb for Obama.
“President Obama said in 2012 that he would establish a ‘red line’ against the use of chemical weapons and then did nothing,” Trump said.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also weighed in, saying Iran and Russia bore “great moral responsibility” for the attack and calling on them to curb the Syrian dictator in the future. In their statements, neither Trump nor Tillerson left any doubt as to who they believed was behind the chemical attack, condemning Assad by name.
Trump’s latest attack on Obama comes at a time when U.S. officials are signaling a softening in their opposition to the brutal Syrian dictator and the U.S. military is shifting its priorities toward its war against ISIS.
When Obama made his controversial 2013 “red line” decision not to intervene in Syria’s civil war, Trump tweeted “Don’t attack Syria — an attack that will bring nothing but trouble for the U.S.”
Betsy DeVos’ brother tried to set up a line of communication between Trump and Putin
Blackwater founder Erik Prince secretly met with “a Russian close to President Vladimir Putin” in January as part of an attempt to establish a back channel for the Trump administration, according to a report in the Washington Post.
Prince reportedly met with the man — who was not identified — in the Seychelles Islands on Jan. 11, nine days before Trump took office. The meeting was said to be arranged by the United Arab Emirates as part of an effort to convince Russia to move away from its support of Iran.
“I wouldn’t be surprised at all,” Barry Faure, the Seychelles secretary of state for foreign affairs, told the Washington Post. “The Seychelles is the kind of place where you can have a good time away from the eyes of the media. That’s even printed in our tourism marketing. But I guess this time you smelled something.”
U.S. officials tell the paper they are looking at the meeting as part of a counterintelligence investigation into the relationship between Trump’s administration and Russia.
Though Prince was never formally employed by the Trump administration, he donated a quarter of a million dollars to the campaign, met repeatedly with Trump’s chief strategist Steve Bannon, and spent time at Trump Tower during the campaign. Officials describe him as playing a “direct role” in the administration despite his lack of a formal title.
He’s also the brother of Trump’s education secretary, Betsy DeVos.
Both Prince and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied the report Monday.
“Erik had no role on the transition team. This is a complete fabrication. The meeting had nothing to do with President Trump. Why is the so-called underresourced intelligence community messing around with surveillance of American citizens when they should be hunting terrorists?” a spokesperson told the Post.
Day 74 April 3
Trump donates $78K salary while still forcing taxpayers to pay millions for his golf trips
Good news and bad news for taxpayers: President Trump donated his presidential salary to the government, but he also declined to reimburse it for his expensive habits — weekend trips to his Florida Mar-a-Lago club and Secret Service protection to enable his wife and son to live in Trump Tower in New York.
While on the campaign trail, Trump repeatedly promised to donate his salary, claiming that because he was wealthy he didn’t need to take “even one dollar” from taxpayers. And during a Monday briefing, Press Secretary Sean Spicer made good on the president’s promise by handing Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke a check for $78,333.32, Trump’s quarterly salary.
The journalists on hand were evidently less than satisfied with the giveaway, asking Spicer about calls from officials for Trump to pay out of pocket for visiting Mar-a-Lago and protecting Trump Tower. Each of Trump’s visits to Mar-a-Lago costs about $3 million, CBS found, and as of late March, Trump had visited Mar-a-Lago 17 times since taking office.
Spicer reminded reporters that not only had Trump just donated his salary, he’d also graciously given up his day job as a businessman to run the country. “At what point does he do enough?” Spicer asked.
Why it’s not normal:
Trump isn’t the first president to donate his salary — John F. Kennedy and Herbert Hoover also gave away theirs. But Trump has changed his story about his salary, a lot. Last month, when reporters pointed out that Trump had yet to donate it, Spicer said that the president planned to give it away at the end of the year and would allow reporters to choose a cause. No explanation was given for Trump’s apparent change of heart.
Meanwhile, Trump’s vacation costs are extraordinary. Barack Obama’s vacations cost taxpayers only $3.5 million each year. Just two months into Trump’s presidency, the Secret Service has asked for an additional $60 million for costs partially related to covering the Trump family’s unique lifestyle.
Trump’s son-in-law is now overseeing America’s fight against ISIS
President Donald Trump’s 36-year-old son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is a busy man on the world stage. He’s the president’s point man on peace in the Middle East, a back-channel negotiator with the Chinese, and a “shadow diplomat” in navigating the contentious U.S.-Mexico relationship. (That’s when he’s not reinventing the entire U.S. government through his newly created Office of American Innovation.)
And on Monday, he arrived in Iraq — something Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has yet to do — to help oversee the fight against ISIS, meet Iraqi leaders, and greet American troops at the invitation of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford Jr.
Kushner’s increasingly prominent role in some of the world’s most delicate and intractable problems suggests that Trump is concentrating authority inside the White House rather than delegating it to Tillerson and the State Department. Diplomats are reportedly turning to Kushner to relay messages to the White House, knowing that he has Trump’s ear and, by virtue of being married to Ivanka Trump, is likely to be around for a while.
In addition to his informal role as one of America’s chief diplomats, Kushner has also been tasked with helping to solve the opioid epidemic, reform the criminal justice system, and reorganize the federal government to run more like a business.
Why it’s not normal:
Some presidents have opted to run foreign policy out of the White House rather than the State Department — most famously with President Nixon and Henry Kissinger — but it’s not normal to entrust so many sensitive diplomatic tasks to a son-in-law with no government experience. It is also not normal for that same son-in-law to simultaneously be put in charge of some of the country’s most pressing domestic issues.
President Trump changes trust to access cash
The legal arrangement that President Trump said would limit his personal connections to his business empire was changed to allow the president to take money out of the trust whenever he wants.
The trust was already seen as a completely insufficient substitute for the president selling off his business interests. That would be the only way for Trump to reasonably avoid conflicts of interest, according to bipartisan ethics experts.
But the latest change, which ProPublica reporters found on page 161 of a legal agreement signed by Donald Trump Jr. on Feb. 10, would allow the president to personally profit from business activities while in office. This comes despite the statement from Trump’s lawyer at a January press conference — with Trump looking on — that he was “completely isolating himself from his business interests.”
Day 72 April 1
The happy White House couple could still profit from $740 million real estate empire
Jared Kushner and Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka both have official roles in the White House. They also happen to be married. And a new financial disclosure report could put them on shaky legal ground, multiple experts told the New York Times.
Despite promising to divest from their businesses and abide by all ethics rules, Kushner and Ivanka still stand to benefit from a real estate empire worth as much as $740 million, according to the report released Friday. Ivanka maintains holdings in the Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C., and Kushner, who resigned from over 200 positions at the limited liability corporations and partnerships that make up the multibillion-dollar family empire, could still see money from most of those entities, the report revealed.
Last week, Ivanka’s unprecedented and unofficial advisory role — complete with a White House office — turned into an official, albeit unpaid, job. Although she promised to abide by all ethics rules in her unofficial role, an official position legally holds her to ethics standards. And Kushner, who previously served as an adviser from the president, will head the new White House Office of American Innovation.
The report, released by the White House late Friday, showed the wealth and assets of as many as 180 senior officials, including former pollster and senior adviser Kellyanne Conway, former Breitbart executive and chief strategist Steve Bannon, and former Goldman Sachs chief operating officer and head of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn. Their financial holdings have already raised questions and prove the difficulty of tracking the Trump administration’s conflicts of interest.
But some Trump administration officials — like former ExxonMobil CEO and now Secretary of State Rex Tillerson — agreed to divest when taking their positions. Tillerson liquidated all of his assets and ownership stake in Exxon before taking on his Cabinet role.
With a combined net worth of $12 billion, according to Bloomberg, Trump’s Cabinet is the wealthiest in history.
Alex Lubben, Matt Phillips, Carter Sherman, and Alex Thompson contributed to these reports.
