Trump backs daughter's business, adding propriety to debate on Presidential powers

WASHINGTON: A roiling debate on Presidential powers which is already before the courts in the United States took on a new dimension over ethics and propriety on Thursday after U.S President Donald Trump publicly expressed support for his daughter Ivanka’s business enterprise, a backing that found official White House support.

''My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person -- always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!''

Trump

tweeted from his private Twitter account after the luxury departmental store dropped her branded merchandize claiming poor sales.

The official White House @Potus account then retweeted the President's complaint even as Trump's White House counselor Kellyanne Conway used the official pulpit to urge people to ''go buy Ivanka’s stuff,'' setting off a furor over possible ethics violation.

The battle spilled over to malls online and off-line with calls from Trump supporters and opponents to respectively buy from Nordstrom or boycott it, potentially offering an insight into income profiles of the two sides.

The latest row came even as the administration and the opposition held their breath for a ruling by the country’s Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on presidential powers relating to his executive order restricting travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries. Trump has repeatedly attacked the judiciary for holding up his orders calling it ''disgraceful'' and warning that the judiciary was endangering national security by overreaching into executive domain.

On Thursday, the already flaming row was further exacerbated when Trump’s own Supreme Court nominee Judge Neil Gorsuch, who is awaiting confirmation hearing by the Senate, was revealed to have told a lawmaker that the President’s attack on the judiciary was ''demoralizing'' and ''disheartening.''

The judge’s dismay was confirmed by Trump’s own aides assigned to Gorsuch's confirmation process, but the President proceeded to attack Democratic Senator

Richard Blumenthal

who first disclosed Judge Gorsuch’s consternation.

''Sen.Richard Blumenthal, who never fought in

Vietnam

when he said for years he had (major lie), now misrepresents what Judge Gorsuch told him?'' Trump tweeted, while also attacking a news anchor who ''never asked him (Blumenthal) about his long-term lie about his brave ‘service’ in Vietnam.''

While Vietnam was hardly germane to the issue on hand, Trump himself never served in Vietnam, taking a deferment for a foot injury. He had previously attacked Republican Senator John McCain for getting captured and becoming a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

The US President also continued to spar with McCain on Wednesday after the latter criticized a Trump-ordered military action in Yemen that resulted in casualties.

''Sen. McCain should not be talking about the success or failure of a mission to the media. Only emboldens the enemy! He's been losing so long he doesn't know how to win anymore, just look at the mess our country is in - bogged down in conflict all over the place,'' Trump tweeted, even as the White House sought an apology from McCain for questioning the success of the mission.

Amid this rocky engagement with the judiciary, the media, and some of his own partymen, Trump, who has often been skeptical of polls, pointed to a survey that showed ''Immigration Ban Is One Of Trump's Most Popular Orders So Far.''

He followed it up with another poll showing ''Majority in Leading EU Nations Support Trump-Style Travel Ban'' and rounded it off with a survey in which ''Trump administration seen as more truthful than news media'' – by a 49-48 margin.

Amid the flurry of tweets, the President also enjoyed the success of his Attorney General nominee

Jeff Sessions

being confirmed by the Senate after yet another all-nighter in which Democrats tried to stall him.

Sessions was sworn in by the President on Thursday after another bruising confirmation battle which he won 52-47, attesting to Trump’s stranglehold over the party despite occasional rebellion from the likes of McCain.
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