White House Inc. - By the NYT Editorial Board
As a candidate, President Trump spent contributors’ money for office space that he owned, stays at his resorts and food at his restaurants. He spent contributors’ money on Trump-branded wine and water. He displayed Trump merchandise at campaign events. Now he seems determined to milk the presidency, apparently synonymous with his brand in his eyes, for a fortune.
“The brand is certainly a hotter brand than it was before,” Mr. Trump observed, with satisfaction, shortly after the election.
Last week, an executive of the Trump Organization, Eric Danziger, said it would open Trump-branded hotels in the 26 largest metropolitan areas in the country, up from five. The business, he said, would focus its expansion domestically for “the next four or eight years.” The fee to join the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., which Mr. Trump calls the “Winter White House,” just doubled to $200,000.
This news came less than a week after Mr. Trump and his inauguration committee hosted parties and other events at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, in the government-owned Old Post Office. Even his press secretary, Sean Spicer, has become a pitchman: “It’s an absolutely stunning hotel,” he said recently. “I encourage you to go there if you haven’t been by.”
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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/01/opinion/white-house-inc.html?emc=edit_th_20170202&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=57435284
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