President-elect Donald Trump is using the holiday season to further enrich himself by hawking a wide array of Christmas merchandise that has left at least one ethics expert aghast.
As the Washington Post reports, Trump-branded Christmas merchandise on sale this year includes a $38 Trump Advent calendar, a $95 Mar-a-Lago bauble, $22 candy cane Trump socks, an $86 "GIANT Trump Chocolate Gold Bar" and a $28 Trump apron that features Santa Claus waving an American flag.
What makes this cash-out particularly noteworthy is that Trump isn't even making a pretense about sending the proceeds to charity, but is rather pocketing the money for the Trump Organization.
"As the company encouraged customers to celebrate the holidays with Trump gifts for all ages, President-elect Donald Trump personally profited off of his upcoming term in a manner that is unprecedented in modern history — even during his unconventional first stint in the White House," reports the Post.
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Jordan Libowitz, vice president for communications for the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told the Post that he has never seen anything like this from any politician and wondered, "How much is he going to use the presidency just to sell Trump products?"
Libowitz also noted that Trump is pretty much the only person who works in the White House who would ever be allowed to get away with such blatant self-enrichment given that presidents don't face the same kinds of strict ethics rules faced by other White House officials.
“It’s kind of amazing the president is held to a significantly lower ethical standard than an accountant at the Social Security Administration,” Libowitz told the paper.