The New York Times sided solidly with the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against President Donald Trump, accusing him Friday of violating the Constitution by accepting foreign clients in his far-flung business empire.
"If Donald Trump thinks there's nothing wrong with exploiting the presidency for his personal profit, he should read the Constitution," the Times said in an editorial.
The newspaper was commenting on a complex legal case involving the so-called "emoluments" clause of the Constitution, which prohibits public officials from accepting "any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever" from a foreign government without congressional approval.
The case, filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), argues that Trump is violating the clause because foreign officials stay at the new Trump International Hotel in Washington, at his high-rise Trump Tower in New York or at other luxury resorts owned by the billionaire developer.
However, other legal experts argue that the founders intended for that clause to be limited "to salary and other financial benefits attached to the holding of an office, and did not cover outside private business interests," as attorney Dan McLaughlin wrote in the National Review.
A broad reading of the clause would have prevented "Virginia tobacco planters like Thomas Jefferson and James Madison from ever being considered for the presidency" because Britain was a major market for their crops, McLaughlin said.
In a hearing on the case on Wednesday, Judge George Daniels noted that Congress has the constitutional authority to decide on Trump's businesses, the New York Post reported.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.