The Embassy of Kuwait allegedly cancelled a contract with a Washington, D.C. hotel days after the presidential election, citing political pressure to hold its National Day celebration at the Trump International Hotel instead.
Pathetic doesn’t even begin to describe it. That the president of the US would demean himself like this for such a tiny amount of money, like a sad little beggar – the whole world will be laughing. Putin would never make such a spectacle of himself for such peanuts. I never thought that in a competition of “who’s a greater embarrassment to their country” Putin would actually look more decent than his American counterpart. He, at least, wouldn’t humiliate himself for less than a billion.
The really sad part, though, is that I don’t even think most Americans realize that having their president hustle the Kuwaitis for a price of a hotel suite is demeaning. Like Russians would say, “You spit in their faces, and they think it’s morning dew.”
Clarissa's Blog 
What basis [beyond a deep and abiding dislike for President Elect Trump] do you have for the assertion that he “hustle[d] the Kuwaitis for a price of a hotel suite . . . .”? Even the (unattributed) quotation does not say that. It refers to political pressure but does not suggest that it was from Trump or even people associated, however remotely, with Trump.
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It’s very easy to Google the quote using the sentence I gave.
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Far be it from me to unravel your little secrets.
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Here is the link: https://www.google.com/amp/s/thinkprogress.org/amp/p/1f204315d513?client=ms-android-att-us
And another quote:
the Kuwaiti embassy, which has regularly held the event at the Four Seasons in Georgetown, abruptly canceled its reservation after members of the Trump Organization pressured the ambassador to hold the event at the hotel owned by the president-elect. The source, who has direct knowledge of the arrangements between the hotels and the embassy, spoke to ThinkProgress on the condition of anonymity because the individual was not authorized to speak publicly. ThinkProgress was also able to review documentary evidence confirming the source’s account.
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An anonymous source allegedly told Think Progress that “members of the Trump Organization” applied pressure? Wow. That’s obviously dispositive that President Elect Trump personally “hustle[d] the Kuwaitis for a price of a hotel suite. . . .” After all, Think Progress must be a reliable source since it supports Democrats.
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Are you saying he doesn’t control his own entourage and his people are doing all this just for fun?
Do you think it’s appropriate that Trump is not putting his business in a blind trust and intertwines presidential duties with his business interests? Because if you do, this discussion makes no sense since we disagree on the basic vision of presidential duties and responsibilities.
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Trump doubtless exerts influence over his people, but it does not extend to all that they do. He probably does not tell them, for example, when, where and how to go to the bathroom or intervene in other matters he deems trivial. He has, after all, been rather busy with the transition, seeking “unqualified, alt-right, white supremacist” appointees and advisers solely to irritate Democrats.
President Elect Trump will not be President Trump until January 20th. Perhaps by then he will have confected a deal with the Clinton Foundation to avoid (the appearance) of mixing official duties and private money grubbing.
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A lot of words just to avoid answering a simple question. 🙂 The fellow hasn’t even been sworn in and there is already so much explaining away that has to be done.
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Gosh Darn! I thought I had provided the best answer that the comment deserves. Besides, I thought the references to Trump’s appointees and advisers as “unqualified, alt-right, white supremacist[s]” and to the wonderful Clinton Foundation would please even Clinton supporters.
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I’m not interested in discussing “alt-right”, whatever that is, or the Clinton Foundation. I’m trying to discuss the subject of the post. And my question remains: do you believe it’s appropriate that Trump is not putting his businesses in a blind trust? That it will now be very easy for anybody who wants to say that they are buying the President’s favors by patronizing his hotels? What is it that we are getting in return for the whole country being humiliated like that? The fabled wall? What a great trade-off.
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“I’m not interested in discussing “alt-right”, whatever that is, or the Clinton Foundation.” That’s quite understandable, but it’s difficult to see why Trump should be held to a higher standard than Ms. Clinton.
As to a “blind trust,” it is likely that Trump will create some sort of “blind trust.” I don’t know what he is likely to do. Would a blind trust administered by the Trump family be OK?
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“That’s quite understandable, but it’s difficult to see why Trump should be held to a higher standard than Ms. Clinton.”
Clinton lost the election. I moved on. My interest in discussing Clinton is nil because SHE LOST.
“Would a blind trust administered by the Trump family be OK?”
It’s not blind if you know the administrators and see them all the time. 🙂 🙂
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Electoral Select Trump is not as as rich as he says he is and is much more highly leveraged than he’s willing to admit. The cost of the Kuwaiti delegations rooms are far less or equal to than the amount he pooh-poohs as the President’s salary.
It is ridiculous to call that pocket change
while rushing to cash a .13 check. Pushing people to rent out your hotels implies your asking price is far lower than you claim it is in public. The Kuwaitis are snickering/i> at this, and I’m sure they’ll drop a penny on the floor at their next diplomatic meeting.
The main reason you haven’t seen more stupidly rich people run for POTUS is because of the blind trust requirement. Most of these people are not going to give up control of their wealth for 4-8 years of power. Oprah isn’t going to put her media empire in a blind trust any more than the Waltons would put their retail empire. The Kochs stayed in the background for that reason as well.
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As for Oprah, I lost all respect for her after this election. She did nothing to help and now she’s all “Oh, what a shock! I should have done something!”
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“Would a blind trust administered by the Trump family be OK?”
His children sit in with him on all his meetings and make key decisions on how his administration is going to run, who he hires, and so on. How are they going to administer this ‘blind trust’?
Shocking that someone so traumatized by EMAILS doesn’t see any conflict of interest in the Trump administration.
Fucking idiot.
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Now, now.
The man went to UVA and hasn’t practiced law or taken a CLE in decades. He lives in Panama and thinks this is normal. He must have forgotten.
Clarissa, if you were wondering why you have idiotic-to-the-point-of-insult ethics trainings every single year, this is why — highly educated people claiming ignorance.
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Ethics trainings sound especially ridiculous in the times of Trump. It will totally destroy the integrity of the US if I accept a free sandwich at a Christmas party of the neighborhood furniture store (yes, seriously, it’s not allowed) but Trump’s team selling president-elect’s favors in exchange for room occupancy at his hotels is perfectly fine.
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As to a “blind trust,” it is likely that Trump will create some sort of “blind trust.” I don’t know what he is likely to do. Would a blind trust administered by the Trump family be OK?
Likely? LIKELY? This is hilarious. He will do no such thing unless he is forced to do so. He never released his tax returns ever from any year while running for President.
It is NOT a blind trust if his spawn or siblings have anything to do with is.
Here, for the playacting naifs in the room:
The US federal government recognizes the “qualified blind trust” (QBT), as defined by the Ethics in Government Act and related regulations.[1] In order for a blind trust to be a QBT, the trustee must not be affiliated with, associated with, related to, or subject to the control or influence of the government official. The trustee should not be a current or former investment advisor, partner, accountant, attorney, or relative.
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“It is NOT a blind trust if his spawn or siblings have anything to do with is.”
“Blind” means not being able to see. If you know who the administrator is, the trust is not blind.
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And this is superficial I realize but Trump Tower and all things Trump are so unspeakably vulgar. It makes me feel such shame to think of world leaders having to trudge over to Trump tower instead of the elegant White House.
Trump represents money without taste. I think Fran Lebowitz said it best when she commented that “Trump is a poor person’s idea of a rich person.” And now that he’s our president he’s just reinforcing the worst of the “ugly American” stereotype. He actually manages to make money seem depressing.
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“He actually manages to make money seem depressing.”
This is brilliant. 🙂 I love it, thank you.
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I think Fran Lebowitz said it best when she commented that “Trump is a poor person’s idea of a rich person.”
Never mind the tacky. Wouldn’t a poor person’s idea of a rich person include more obvious personal happiness and calm? People who buy lottery tickets regularly have elaborate fantasies about what they’d do with that money, thinking it’s like Christmas morning 24-7 forever. These employees on Undercover Boss shriek with happiness and wipe away tears when their undercover boss hands them a check for $20,000. Or am I misunderstanding things?
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They are happy for a second and then immediately begin getting suspicious and angry at the losers who didn’t bootstrap themselves all into this enormous achievement.
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They are happy for a second and then immediately begin getting suspicious and angry at the losers who didn’t bootstrap themselves all into this enormous achievement
LMAO!
That may be what actually happens. But if you believe money buys happiness and would solve all of your problems, you should expect rich people to be ecstatic or at least pleasant because life is awesome!
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“But if you believe money buys happiness and would solve all of your problems, you should expect rich people to be ecstatic or at least pleasant because life is awesome!”
Trump and his android wife should be shown as a promotional trailer for the campaign titled “Money doesn’t buy happiness.”
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“Never mind the tacky. Wouldn’t a poor person’s idea of a rich person include more obvious personal happiness and calm? People who buy lottery tickets regularly have elaborate fantasies about what they’d do with that money, thinking it’s like Christmas morning 24-7 forever. These employees on Undercover Boss shriek with happiness and wipe away tears when their undercover boss hands them a check for $20,000.”
Well for what it’s worth, I think the Lebowitz quotation was explicitly referring to “the tacky”–the gold faucets, the loud clothing, the gigantic jet etc. etc. That being said, I think that a certain segment of voters actually find Trump’s fundamental “ungenerosity” (for lack of better word–stinginess doesn’t quite fit here) appealing. There is a large segment of the American population that fundamentally mistrusts anyone outside of their immediate social circle. They tend to think that people are “out to get them.” This is why, in this philosophy, you have to arm yourself when going to Walmart, keep a billion locks on your doors, and think that taxes are somehow akin to stealing. (And as a side note, this is why such people prefer “charity” to “taxes.” Charity benefits the “worthy” while taxes go to benefit “everybody.”)
It’s in incredibly insular mindset-and one that Trump was able to tap. So in this world view it’s like “Hell yeah. If I were rich like Trump, I too would buy gold faucets, evade taxes, and make everyone visit me in my golden edifice. Fuck the White House. It’s just stupid and old and for pussies. And fuck what other world leaders want. They should do what WE want. If I were rich like Trump, I would make those pussy French listen to ME.” And so on and so on.
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There is a large segment of the American population that fundamentally mistrusts anyone outside of their immediate social circle. They tend to think that people are “out to get them.” This is why, in this philosophy, you have to arm yourself when going to Walmart, keep a billion locks on your doors, and think that taxes are somehow akin to stealing. (And as a side note, this is why such people prefer “charity” to “taxes.” Charity benefits the “worthy” while taxes go to benefit “everybody.”)
Except for the guns and the taxes being akin to stealing (“how sway?”) I could write the same thing. Also charity affords the feeling of being personally generous, while taxes do not.
Any fantasies of making my personal enemies grovel would be short, sweet and really a small chapter in my Life As Obscenely Rich Person (TM), and it’s not because I don’t hold grudges. I do. 🙂 I get it, but I really don’t get how that fits into Poor Person’s Fantasy of Being Rich (TM).
I mean, there’s no shows like Lifestyles of the Rich and Vengeful or Lottery Winners’ Grudge Quest. “I’m Robin Leach and we’ll be touring fabulously wealthy celebrities’ luxuriously appointed Bunkers of CSI Vengeance! What poor schlub is going to get crushed today? Join me now as I show you how rich people get even!”
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““Hell yeah. If I were rich like Trump, I too would buy gold faucets, evade taxes, and make everyone visit me in my golden edifice. Fuck the White House. It’s just stupid and old and for pussies. And fuck what other world leaders want. They should do what WE want. If I were rich like Trump, I would make those pussy French listen to ME.”
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“I mean, there’s no shows like Lifestyles of the Rich and Vengeful or Lottery Winners’ Grudge Quest. ”
Of course not. LotRF purely focuses on the tacky side of things. I’ve only seen the show perhaps 3-4 times in my life and each time I personally find myself cringing in the same way the Trump makes me cringe. That type of wealth rarely reaches for or tries to produce the beautiful; it’s solely about mindless consumerism for it’s own sake.
At any rate, I’m just saying that what you are correctly identifying as Trump’s surely pettiness is another plus for many of his admirers. And if you think about it, there is something aggressive about that vulgar display of ostentatious wealth. And most poor people–for good reason– have fantasies about getting rich and then brazenly displaying those riches. Many lottery winners have gone broke because they spend their money in such odd and overly-flamboyant ways.
To some extent, it’s what explains the fascination with “the wall.” I personally think the wall has nothing to do with immigration per se. It’s about the fantasy of turning the entire United States into one gross gated community. And gated communities are about keeping “undesirables” out to be sure–but gated communities are also about celebrating the gate for it’s own sake. These gates–which are generally silly and huge and easily hopped if one is interested– signify that those behind the gate can afford isolation and to spend an enormous amount of money on something that accomplishes no practical goal. The promise of “the wall” is like that: it’s function is to make a certain segment of the population feel “rich.”
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LotRF purely focuses on the tacky side of things. I’ve only seen the show perhaps 3-4 times in my life and each time I personally find myself cringing in the same way the Trump makes me cringe.
LotRF was one of many television shows I watched regularly as a child. I just remember being bored.
And if you think about it, there is something aggressive about that vulgar display of ostentatious wealth
I keep thinking this belief is an artifact of the French Revolution or the Great Depression. Hmm…
It’s about the fantasy of turning the entire United States into one gross gated community. And gated communities are about keeping “undesirables” out to be sure–but gated communities are also about celebrating the gate for it’s own sake. These gates–which are generally silly and huge and easily hopped if one is interested– signify that those behind the gate can afford isolation and to spend an enormous amount of money on something that accomplishes no practical goal. The promise of “the wall” is like that: it’s function is to make a certain segment of the population feel “rich.”
Gated communities always seem to have HoAs, which are notorious for getting into everyone’s business. There is a lot of spending to keep up appearances.
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