Democrats struggle to check Trump moves on plane, meme coin

WASHINGTON — Democrats find themselves in familiar powerless territory when it comes to trying to stop President Donald Trump from what they see as potential violations of a constitutional clause meant to prevent presidents from accepting gifts or other items of value from foreign countries without the consent of Congress.

During Trump’s first term, members of Congress sought to have the courts help them enforce the Foreign Emoluments Clause when it came to his Washington hotel and business dealings. But their lawsuit and others were turned aside for procedural reasons that could doom another try.

Now some Democrats say Trump’s moves are more brazen — a luxury plane gifted by the Qatari government, and a personal $TRUMP meme coin where the identity of investors are not public — and they are using the power of their offices to demand a response.

But they are in minorities in both chambers without control of the oversight powers or what legislation gets floor votes, and Republicans have shown little interest in applying the clause against the businessman-turned-president and de facto leader of their party.

Scott R. Anderson, a fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institute, said Congress could act to rein in perceived excesses of the Trump administration, but it would take significant bipartisan majorities to do so, possibly even veto-proof majorities since Trump would have to sign legislation into law.

“There’s a million things Congress could do if they really wanted to,” Anderson said.

At issue now are a 747 plane from Qatar not only for use as Air Force One but potentially destined for his presidential library, and a crypto coin that for which Trump held a dinner this month for the top 220 investors in a business that benefits the president.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Trump has “magnified to an entirely different level the scope and scale of his violations of the Emoluments Clause” in his second term.

Blumenthal, who was one of the members who sued Trump over alleged emoluments at his hotel in the first term before a federal appeals court ruled they did not have a legal right to bring the lawsuit, said there are deep issues with Trump’s business ties that Democrats intend to address.

“We’re going to pursue this issue in a variety of ways, but the plane is a bright and shiny object that is easy for people to understand,” Blumenthal said. “The crypto currency corruption is in some ways more venal because people actually lose as a result of investing in these coins.”

Blumenthal said that members of Congress could have a better chance in a lawsuit if leaders like Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., signed off. As to the likelihood of that? “I’m always hopeful,” Blumenthal said.

Minority Leader Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would put a hold on any Justice Department nominees until the DOJ provides more information and introduced legislation that would prohibit the use of federal funds for a plane formerly owned by a foreign government or the instrument of one.

Last week, Schumer also sought to advance the bill through a unanimous consent request, but faced an objection from Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan. Schumer called the deal “bribery in broad daylight” and argued taxpayers should not subsidize it.

“Donald Trump accepting this gift reeks of corruption and naked self-enrichment,” Schumer said in a floor speech.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the ranking member of the House Judiciary panel, sent several letters this month to the Trump administration raising concerns over Trump’s acceptance of the jet and appearance at the cryptocurrency dinner, and requesting information from the DOJ and White House.

“I write today to demand that you release the names of all the attendees at this dinner and provide information about the source of the money they each used to buy $TRUMP coins, so that we can prevent illegal foreign government emoluments from being pocketed without congressional consent,” Raskin said in a statement Thursday.

A letter last week said that Trump may have engaged in a “months-long pressure campaign” to coerce the plane out of the Qatari government.

Raskin also introduced a resolution to condemn the gift of the plane and said that Trump had demonstrated a “prostitution of the presidency” during a House Judiciary hearing earlier this month.

Gregory W. Meeks, D-N.Y., introduced a bill that would prohibit the use of federal funds to facilitate the transfer of an aircraft owned by a foreign government to the U.S. president or to Trump’s presidential library.

Sen. Tim Kaine, at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing this month, issued a warning to Qatari officials who might be listening that a gift now might harm their interests in the future.

“If Qatar wants a long-term relationship with all branches of the United States government, you are about to commit a grievous error that is likely to be a permanent stain on your ethical record and you should reconsider it,” Kaine said, according to a transcript of the hearing.

In January 2024, House Democrats released a staff report that concluded Trump’s businesses took in at least $7.8 million in foreign payments from at least 20 countries during his first administration in violation of the Constitution.

GOP response

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters earlier this month that concerns over the propriety of the plane are “not my lane” and argued the public nature of the deal assuaged any concerns.

“It’s a gift to the United States and other nations give us gifts all the time, but I am going to leave it to the administration. They know much more about the details,” Johnson said.

In an interview on CNN, Johnson said he didn’t know about the crypto reception. “Look, I don’t know anything about the dinner. I was a little busy this past week,” Johnson said. “So I’m not going to comment on something I haven’t even heard about.”

The defenses from Johnson and other Republicans have echoed Trump’s own – insisting that the jet is a gift from the Qatari government to the United States.

“They’re giving the United States Air Force a jet. OK? And it’s a great thing. We’re talking about a lot of other things,” Trump told reporters at the White House, including announcing further investments in the U.S.

Republicans in the past have raised emoluments clause issues, particularly against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her run for president in 2016. That year, Senate Judiciary Chair Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, sent letters raising concerns about speaking fees paid to former President Bill Clinton while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State.

In a video statement earlier this month, Grassley raised national security concerns about the plane. “The extent to which I want to make sure that there is technology that the national secrets of any president talking on that plane are not sent to a foreign country,” Grassley said.

At a committee meeting earlier this month, Grassley criticized Democrats for not “showing any interest in these apparent violations of emoluments” by Hillary Clinton. Grassley also argued the jet would not be used by Trump after his term, instead parked at a museum.

Several Republicans have avoided talking about the issue or referred to it as a distraction. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Sen. James Risch declined to comment on issues about the jet and emoluments.

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said Democrats were “desperate to change the subject” from reports about former President Joe Biden’s diminished capacities in office, rather than addressing possible payments from a foreign government to a sitting president.

“I think Democrats are desperate to talk about anything other than the fact they lied to the American people for four years about a president who was not fit to be president,” Hawley said.

A few senators, including Thune, have raised issues with the plane’s transfer, but not yet objected to it. Earlier this month, Thune told reporters that there are “lots of issues associated with that offer which I think need to be further talked about.”

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., acknowledged that there are legitimate questions around Trump’s lavish crypto reception, but said he hadn’t seen outreach from Democrats beyond the headlines.

“I see the theatrics, I see what marketing wants them to do on the floor and in committees, but I haven’t seen any genuine legislative proposals,” Tillis said.

On Congress

Daniel I. Weiner, the director of the Elections and Government program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, said that addressing many of Trump’s business interests and their ties with the presidency through the courts could be difficult to address without congressional action.

For instance, he said the initial transfer of the Qatari jet to the U.S. government may line up with existing federal law on gifts from foreign governments.

“It may be outlandish, it may be unwise for a variety of reasons but it doesn’t become an emoluments issue,” Weiner said.

If the plane would become the property of the Trump presidential library and available for his use after his term? “That starts to look like a personal gift would be squarely covered by the Emoluments Clause,” Weiner said.

Weiner said of the Trump family’s cryptocurrency that it appears federal law doesn’t address emoluments issues that arise from a president having a business relationship with foreign citizens or foreign governments.

Weiner said that in the past the Supreme Court has been skeptical of lawsuits based on portions of the Constitution that are not “enabled,” or put into action by legislation from Congress.

“The paths to just sue directly under the Emoluments Clause are uncertain,” Weiner said. “The ball is really in Congress’ court to do that, it is the responsibility assigned to them. They’ve neglected it and they need to show up on that.”