Trump, His Emoluments, and What the Constitution Says about Them

    So you want to know what "emoluments" are? That's when you receive a fee of some kind, or when you profit from your office. 
   And, the Constitution has something to say about them, suggesting they are a definite no-no. Thursday, an article in Esquire suggested Donald Trump violated the Emoluments Clause, and thereby should be disqualified from being president. "Everybody from Washington to Riyadh to Beijing knew the former president and his family were coining the presidency into cash, which was completely in conflict with the provision in Article I of the Constitution," wrote the Esquire's Charles P. Pierce. 
  Which clause says, "No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State."
   The article notes that Thursday, the Democratic portion of the House Oversight Committee released a report spelling out how Trump put his office "up for sale." It then turned to an article from The New York Times that said documents produced through a court fight describe how foreign governments and their controlled entities . . . paid millions to the Trump International Hotel . . . China made the largest total payment -- $5.5 million."
   Altogether, it is estimated that Trump, while in office, took at least $7.8 million from foreign entities.