Trump flies out to join First Lady Melania at Mar-a-Lago

originally posted by: windword
a reply to: smurfy

But, the Constitution is clear, even if Trump isn't. It's not his call to make. He can't decline. He can donate his salary anywhere he likes. But he MUST draw a salary.

That's right, but let's hope for instance, Trump doesn't donate it to his foundation, that would be the biggest kick in the teeth to the people of the US. Trump hasn't put in a penny to his foundation since 2008 as I understand it, and he also used some of the money there in self-dealing and political contributions...there was a fine for the latter.

originally posted by: Trueman
a reply to: Byrd

So lets forget WTC 9-11. Lets forget Boston Marathon. Ignore the good example we have of how we can end up given by Germany.

Germany during which era? If you mean recently, the Kristkindlmarkt attack killed fewer people than the Oklahoma City bombing did. (in case you've forgotten the details.)

Germans have little to no access to guns and the rate of homicide is far below the US. Most crimes in Germany are related to drugs

If you mean Germany pre-WWII (or WWI) then you might want to read up on this a bit more. Economic pressures were not caused by immigrants. Leaders blamed the problem on native-born Germans (Jews.)

...you might want to be aware that I've lived in Germany.

Please visit FBI site and look at the photos and names. How many of them are what you call "white".

FBI's website is a national database of the 'top ten."

The FBI, by the way, classifies Hispanics and people from the Middle East as "white" (and before you attempt an argument, this is correct. There are skeletal differences between Asians, Africans, Caucasians, and Australian aborigines and those are loosely called "race." Differences in skin tones are misleading because some Caucasians (southern India) have almost black skins and some Middle Easterners are very pale skinned.)

Anyway, crime in your area is committed by people who look like you. If a Black wanders into a gated community of Whites, everyone notices him. But no one notices the young guy who's White because they think he's visiting someone there. A White guy in a Chinese neighborhood stands out (or in a Black neighborhood. I've driven in some of those and even as a rather harmless-looking White woman, people were noticeably suspicious of me.)

originally posted by: queenofswords

originally posted by: windword
a reply to: RickyD

No actually tbh I am curious to see if he actually tries to buck the system and flat out refused it.

He can't. It's in the US Constitution.

US Constitution, Article II, Section 1
The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them.

He is returning it all to the United States Treasury. He is not personally pocketing his salary.

Where do you get that? Source? Citation please.

I didn't know that the US Treasury was a charity that accepted donations.

a reply to: Trueman

And no, I'm not frightened of immigrants and yes, I want Trump to leave office and go somewhere else and the sooner the better.

Homeland Security doesn't seem to happy with him, because they promptly dropped Trump's order and returned to business as usual If they'd felt that Trump's actions were warranted, we'd hear howls of outrage from them and see a lot of foot-dragging over dropping the ban.

Business CEOs live as though they're dictators. The US government is set up to provide checks and balances and he's making rules without going through the process. He's angry that he got a 'check' after making policy without the 'advise and consent' of the legislation and the judiciary branch and according to reports he's been complaining about this while he's down there (doing the very difficult task of attending a charity ball and giving an interview that will be broadcast during the Super Bowl).

WE should be angry that he's trying to step on the very offices designed to keep a president from being a dictator.

originally posted by: windword

originally posted by: queenofswords

originally posted by: windword
a reply to: RickyD

No actually tbh I am curious to see if he actually tries to buck the system and flat out refused it.

He can't. It's in the US Constitution.

US Constitution, Article II, Section 1
The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them.

He is returning it all to the United States Treasury. He is not personally pocketing his salary.

Where do you get that? Source? Citation please.

I didn't know that the US Treasury was a charity that accepted donations.

I think the source was Trump himself... I remember it being reported that he said this.

HOWever...given that he's had to be shamed into making donations he's promised, I also don't give it any credibility. It's just a hollow statement 'to win hearts.'

a reply to: Byrd

Huh. I recall him saying that he would "donate" all the profits he receives from foreign dignitaries at his DC hotels to the US Treasury (huh?), but I don't recall him saying that about his salary. I may have missed that.

originally posted by: windword
a reply to: Byrd

Huh. I recall him saying that we would "donate" all the profits he receives from foreign dignitaries at his DC hotels to the US Treasury (huh?), but I don't recall him saying that about his salary. I may have missed that.

It's been talked about here. I've only listened to part of one of his speeches (I don't enjoy video or podcasts), so I don't know an exact quote.

As I looked it up, I ran across this interesting article that Trump has promised to donate salary before... and hasn't In this case, it's the salary from The Apprentice.

The actual quote is from a Leslie Stahl interview shortly after Trump won. The first promise was made sometime in 2015.

I thought this was interesting -- He'd be the third president to do this.

a reply to: Byrd

From you last link:

Trump will become the third U.S. president in history to not take a salary, according to Snopes.com. Herbert Hoover and John F. Kennedy both donated their salaries to charity.

It's still "their salaries" to donate. He's still taking his salary and then, supposedly, donating it to, hopefully, a legitimate charity of his choice.


The fact that he's claiming that he's not taking a salary, though, doesn't let him of the preverbal hook, as folks seem to suggest. The annual $400K that he's supposedly giving up will pay for about 2 hours of security at Trump Towers New York, that is now needed because the First Lady and First Son are not at the White House. I'm not impressed.

I've seen this quoted a few times now.

US Constitution, Article II, Section 1
The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them.

I'm reading the bold portion as his salary could be changed before he takes office. I'm not saying that happened, and I could very easily be wrong about my interpretation. I'm no constitutional scholar.

a reply to: Byrd

First of all a weekend off is more than appropriate especially when it's for a charity with other world leaders, not just playing golf at camp david.

Second of all when is a weekend suddenly a vacation, especially when you are working much of the time?

MSMouthbreathing liberals are failing faster than they can melt in the light of the new sun god trump.

originally posted by: Byrd
The Daily Mail does bullet points and a longer article (I'm beginning to like the British style here)

As an American who has lived in Britain, the DailyMail is garbage. Typos everywhere, contradictions WITHIN the same article,and generally, their articles are so void of content, they write 2 or 3 paragraphs and then paraphrase those paragraphs about 3-4 times throughout the "article", and that's it.


Most Brits will happily acknowledge how terrible and unjournalistic it is.

They do sometimes simply parrot something the AP, Reuters or BBC wrote, so something accurate will occasionally appear on DM, but paraphrased into typo-filled dumb-speak.

a reply to: Byrd

as opposed to barry who was on a plane to Hawaii at drop of a hat with his golf caddy i mean secret service dude carrying his clubs.

He has not seen his wife since the inauguration. His ass has been working just as hard as those who want nothing of his to move forward. It is childish how people are still attacking him.

Vacation? This was a scheduled event. Also, the president does not dictate who pays for rooms unless he wants to draw a line and travel with less people. I mean, he should not have to travel with the entire WH staff but in the past this has been done including Bush 2 who went to his ranch. It was like a second WH during his terms.

What I like is that the First Lady is not using the title to take lavish vacations with her mom and all of her staff as well as friends. Like Michelle Obama did. There was Spain...

Mrs. Obama and friends have been staying at the five-star Hotel Villa Padierna near Marbella, where at least 30 rooms were reserved for the entourage, including those for security. The hotel is one of Spain’s more luxurious establishments, with rooms ranging from $500-a-night to a $6,600 suite with 24-hour butler service.

Then China for more than 10 days

Judicial Watch released records revealing significant taxpayer-funded travel expenses for a Michelle Obama trip in July. Those records from the U.S. Department of the Air Force showed that Michelle Obama’s 2014 trip to China cost American taxpayers $362,523.53 in travel expenses alone. Mrs. Obama, her daughters, and her mother spent March 19 – 26 in China, in a trip highlighted by extended visits to some of the country’s most popular tourist sites.

or some more...

Judicial Watch uncovered an expensive combination of trips by the Obamas to Africa and Honolulu, which cost taxpayers $15,885,585.30 in flight expenses alone. The single largest prior known expense for accommodations was for Michelle

Obama’s side-trip to Dublin, Ireland, during the 2013 G-8 conference in Belfast, when she and her entourage booked 30 rooms at the five-star Shelbourne Hotel, and where she stayed in the 1500 square-foot Princess Grace suite at a cost of $3,500 a night. The total cost to taxpayers for the Obamas’ Ireland trip was $7,921,638.66. To date, the known beyond-first-class travel expenses of the Obamas and Vice President Joe Biden exceed $57 million.

In February, Michelle Obama took a weekend trip to Aspen, Colorado that cost taxpayers a pretty penny; $57,068.80 in travel expenses alone for the 7.4 hour-round trip flight, according to U.S.Air Force records.

This is a fraction for comparison.

originally posted by: matafuchs
He has not seen his wife since the inauguration.

Her choice not to live with Trump....

It is childish how people are still attacking him.

Was it also childish when the racist birthers attacked Obama for 8 years?

a reply to: circuitsports

Since when was a weekend a vacation? Since Donald harshly and furiously criticized Obama for taking vacations every chance he got. That's when became one.

a reply to: hellobruce

Why were they racist? Because Obama was half African American? Did they hate half of him?

a reply to: scojak

No offence to those who don't like him, but implying his work ethic lacks is disengenious. This was a man who literally out campaigned his opponent by a large margin and seems a workaholic. Was the last couple weeks for you too slow....? I doubt his pace slows.