When he was a candidate for the GOP presidential nomination some years ago, billionaire Steve Forbes carefully separated his personal businesses from his campaign. As New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg followed the same practice. Donald Trump is doing what no rich White House contender has done before: freely and openly mixing business and politics. When he first announced, Trump boasted that he could make money running for president -- and he's making good on his promise. Trump's campaign has bought travel on his plane, rented his facilities, bought his steaks and paid his personal staff — all for more than $8 million. Nobody says that's illegal, but the Trump Foundation may have violated civil law by using other peoples' donations to finance Trump's personal lifestyle. We compare Trump's campaign to those of past billionaire candidates — and hear about potential conflicts of interest if he takes charge of federal policies.
A presidential campaign as a personal investment
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Credits
Guests:
- Lloyd Mayer - Notre Dame University - @NDNonprofitProf
- Paul Waldman - American Prospect / Washington Post / The Week - @paulwaldman1
- Julie Bykowicz - Wall Street Journal - @bykowicz
- Norman Eisen - Senior fellow in Governance Studies, Brookings Institution; founder and executive chair, States United Democracy Center; former ambassador, Czech Republic from 2011 to 2014 - @NormEisen