Trump claimed there was no such thing as a global currency despite that the U.S. dollar is the global currency as most international trade is priced in dollars.
Forbes – President Trump: Replace The Dollar With Gold As The Global Currency To Make America Great Again
The Guardian – A return to the gold standard will not win Trump’s trade war
Presidents divest their private businesses, usually putting them in a blind trust, in order to avoid conflicts of interest and breaking the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. While blind trusts are not necessary to fulfill the requirements of the Emoluments Clause, Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush all did so, while Obama placed his holdings into standard index funds.
Trump refused either a blind trust or relinquishing ownership of his company. He instead said he would resign from all positions and hand control to his sons, with the promise that they would not discuss anything business related.
In January 2017, Trump held his first press conference as President-Elect. He used a large stack of unlabeled folders as proof that he had handed over his company to his sons. He did not allow reporters to look at their contents.
Don and Eric are going to be running the company. They’re going to be running it in a very professional manner. They’re not going to discuss it with me. Again, I don’t have to do this.
Trump also called the emoluments clause of the Constitution “phony” and claimed that Article II of the Constitution gave him “the right to do whatever I want.” Trump also repeatedly promised to release his tax returns both during his campaign and after becoming President.
The Washington Post – Donald Trump won’t do what Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush did
MarketWatch – Ethics laws don’t require Trump to give up control of his ‘unprecedented’ portfolio
Reuters – Trump says won’t divest from his business while president
The Hill – Trump barred reporters from examining stacks of folders at press conference
Britannica – What Is the Emoluments Clause?
Trump made the remark to Jake Turx of the Jewish publication Ami Magazine, who had not accused Trump of being Anti-Semitic.
Number one, I am the least anti-Semitic person that you’ve ever seen in your entire life. Number two, racism. The least racist person.
Politico – Trump, asked about reports of anti-Semitic threats nationwide, says he’s not anti-Semitic
CNBC – Donald Trump: I am the least anti-Semitic person that ‘you’ve ever seen in your entire life’
Steve Bannon, head of Brietbart News and considered the architect of Trump’s campaign, made the remark to a friend in November 2017. Bannon also described the office as already having taken a toll on Trump, saying he believed the President had “lost a step.”
Bannon left his chief strategist role at the White House in August.
Vanity Fair – “I have power”: Is Steve Bannon running for President?
Business Insider – Steve Bannon reportedly joked to a friend that Trump is ‘like an 11-year-old child’
The Hill – Bannon joked that Trump is like ‘an 11-year-old child’: report
National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster derided President Donald Trump’s intelligence at a private dinner with Oracle CEO Safra Catz, according to several sources with knowledge of the conversation.
Four sources told BuzzFeed News they heard about the incident from Catz. McMaster referred to Trump as an “idiot” and a “dope” with the intelligence of a “kindergartner,”, according the the sources
Oracle and the Trump administration denied the comments that Catz later recounted.
Buzzfeed News – Sources: McMaster Mocked Trump’s Intelligence At A Private Dinner
In an interview with Time, Trump recalled the conversation.
I said, “You don’t use steam anymore for catapult?” “No sir.” I said, “Ah, how is it working?” “Sir, not good. Not good. Doesn’t have the power. You know the steam is just brutal. You see that sucker going and steam’s going all over the place, there’s planes thrown in the air.”
It sounded bad to me. Digital. They have digital. What is digital? And it’s very complicated, you have to be Albert Einstein to figure it out. And I said — and now they want to buy more aircraft carriers. I said, “What system are you going to be—” “Sir, we’re staying with digital.” I said, “No you’re not. You going to goddamned steam, the digital costs hundreds of millions of dollars more money and it’s no good.”
Foreign Policy – Trump Wants New Aircraft Carriers to Turn Back to ‘Goddamned Steam’ Power Catapults
At Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, a rally named Unite the Right was held to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Those in attendance included the KKK, neo-Confederates, and neo-Nazis. The organizer of the rally, Jason Kessler, was a self-avowed white supremacist and Neo-Nazi.
On the second day of the rally, a white supremacist drove a car through a crowd of counter-protesters, injuring 28 people, and murdering Heather Heyer, a 32-year old woman. It was ruled a terror attack by the city and the FBI. A police helicopter responding to the events also crashed, resulting in the deaths of two Virginia state troopers.
When questioned about the rally, Trump remarked, “you have blame on both sides,” and “you had very fine people, on both sides.” He went on to say, “I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and white nationalists because they should be condemned totally.”
The Atlantic – Trump Defends White-Nationalist Protesters: ‘Some Very Fine People on Both Sides’
NPR – Events Surrounding White Nationalist Rally In Virginia Turn Fatal
Real Clear Politics – Trump Didn’t Call Neo-Nazis ‘Fine People.’ Here’s Proof.
Wikipedia – Unite the Right rally
Wikipedia – Jason Kessler
Trump gave a speech to law enforcement in Long Island, New York. He remarked,
“When you see these towns and when you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon, you just see them thrown in, rough, and I said, ‘Please don’t be too nice.'”
USA Today – Trump tells law enforcement: ‘Don’t be too nice’ with suspects
ABC News – Trump to police: ‘Please don’t be too nice’ to suspects
Trump has also retweeted an image of a bloody CNN crushed under his shoe. He has long railed against the press, calling them “the enemy of the people.”
ABC News – Critics pounce on Trump after CNN wrestling tweet
After a July 20, 2017 meeting at the Pentagon, the New Yorker reported that then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson referred to Trump as “a f*cking moron.”
When asked about it, Tillerson said he wouldn’t be resigning, but also didn’t deny whether he’d said the remark.
After the report emerged, Trump publicly challenged his Secretary of State to an IQ test.
Tillerson was fired the following year.
Time – The Rise and Fall of Rex Tillerson: A Timeline
New York Magazine – Tillerson, Who Privately Called Trump ‘Moron,’ Pretty Much Confirms It in Public
Quartz – All the ways Trump’s closest confidants insult his intelligence
BBC News – Rex Tillerson – Trump’s former top diplomat
