Trump's corporate endorsements put government fingers on the scale of business
President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged people to buy Dell computers.Presidents haven't traditionally endorsed specific products.Experts are largely resigned to Trump's favoritism of certain companies, while concerned about the impact.In recent days, President Donald Trump has announced Walmart is lowering prices, and took credit. He went further last week when he cheered Michael Dell for funding Trump Accounts to the tune of $6.25 billion.At an Oval Office celebration for the investment accounts for children with the CEO and his wife, Trump issued this exhortation: "Go out and buy a Dell computer."Average Americans may like cheaper groceries or no-cost nest eggs for their kids.
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President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged people to buy Dell computers.Presidents haven't traditionally endorsed specific products.Experts are largely resigned to Trump's favoritism of certain companies, while concerned about the impact.In recent days, President Donald Trump has announced Walmart is lowering prices, and took credit. He went further last week when he cheered Michael Dell for funding Trump Accounts to the tune of $6.25 billion.At an Oval Office celebration for the investment accounts for children with the CEO and his wife, Trump issued this exhortation: "Go out and buy a Dell computer."Average Americans may like cheaper groceries or no-cost nest eggs for their kids. They may be pleased that the president is pushing for what he wants from corporate America.The president's penchant for mixing business and politics has others concerned that his pattern of playing favorites meddles with free enterprise and could distort incentives in the economy. Another concern — he has bought shares in both Dell and Walmart this year."It's a clear violation of misusing public office for private gain, and also sort of implying that there is some sort of government-wide endorsement of Dell products over competitors for laptops and electronics," Don Fox, former general counsel and acting director of the US Office of Government Ethics, said in an interview."For anyone else, it would be a clear-cut violation, and frankly, in any other administration, no chief executive would ever have done this, and if one of their staff members had done it, they would have been called to the carpet on it."Richard Painter, who served as the chief ethics lawyer in the White House Counsel's Office under President George W.
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- What's the story?
- President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged people to buy Dell computers.Presidents haven't traditionally endorsed specific products.Experts are largely resigned to Trump's favoritism of certain companies, while concerned about the impact.In recent days, President Donald Trump has announced Walmart is lowering prices, and took credit. He went further last week when he cheered Michael Dell for funding Trump Accounts to the tune of $6.25 billion.At an Oval Office celebration for the investment accounts for children with the CEO and his wife, Trump issued this exhortation: "Go out and buy a Dell computer."Average Americans may like cheaper groceries or no-cost nest eggs for their kids.
- How widely is it covered?
- 1 outlet, average source rating 6.0/10.
- When was it last updated?
- 16m ago.
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Trump's corporate endorsements put government fingers on the scale of business
Sources1TypeCoverageBusiness Insider