A flattering blog post about the president’s Florida property Mar-a-Lago on US Embassy websites has raised ethics concerns.
There are new ethics concerns after a flattering blog post about President Trump's Florida property Mar-a-Lago appeared on many U.S. Embassy websites, reports the New York Times.
For instance, the post headlined "Mar-a-Lago: The winter White House ," is on a site for the U.S. Embassy & Consulates in the United Kingdom.
It states that “Mar-a-Lago, President Trump’s Florida estate, has become well known as the president frequently travels there to work or host foreign leaders.”
After mentioning an official visit by China’s leader Xi Jingping, the piece says that “Trump is belatedly fulfilling the dream of Mar-a-Lago’s original owner and designer.”
It goes on to add that the heiress who built the property “spared no expense. The 114-room mansion sits on 8 hectares of land, with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and an inland waterway on the other.”
The post, dated April 5, was a shorter version of a piece published the day before on the ShareAmerica website which describes itself as “the U.S. Department of State’s platform for sharing compelling stories and images that spark discussion and debate on important topics…"
The promotion has not gone unnoticed by critics including lawmakers; Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat, tweeted in response, “Yes, I am curious @StateDept. Why are taxpayer $$ promoting the President's private country club?”
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi tweeted a link to the post with the question, “Why is @realDonaldTrump’s State Dept promoting the President’s private club? #Trump100Days.”
The New York Times notes, "Presidential scholars and ethics lawyers have, since the beginning of the Trump administration, stated concerns about how Mr. Trump and his family separate their personal business interests from the president’s official duties."
