Article I, Section 9 of the United States Constitution contains what is familiarly known as the Foreign Emoluments Clause, which prevents any “Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”
This clause was written by the Founding Fathers as a way to prevent foreign governments and powers from using money, gifts or other honor to corrupt the Office of the President’s loyalty to the US.
As it relates to the current President-elect, Donald Trump, the concern is that any time a foreign government or leader spends money at one of his businesses, that it could violate the Emoluments Clause. For example, shortly after the election it was reported that the Embassy of Bahrain switched its annual Bahrain National Day gala on December 7th to the Trump Hotel in Washington, DC.
