Joy Reid: Trump’s ‘family is going to enrich themselves off the American taxpayer’

President-elect Donald Trump was an unconventional presidential candidate and as he moves toward the White House, his unorthodox style continues. While Trump revealed he does not plan to take a salary as president, Joy Reid, host of MSNBC’s AM Joy, suggested that he will be lining his pockets with the American taxpayers’ money in other ways. Reid spoke with Ari Rabin-Havt on The Agenda with Ari Rabin-Havt Monday,

Trump has not indicated any plans to deviate from his lavish lifestyle once he takes the oath of office. The President-elect plans to travel back and forth between the White House and his family’s penthouse in Trump Tower, which has already been nicknamed ‘White House North.’ His wife, Melania, and youngest son, Barron, plan to stay at their current home at least through the end of the school year — a move which officials say is costing New York City $1 million per day.

“The money that the Secret Service is going to have to pay to lease two floors of Trump Tower is two, three, four times the salary of the President of the United States,” Reid said.  “And his finances are so opaque — so when you’re paying Trump Tower, you’re paying Donald Trump. You’re paying Ivanka. You’re paying those two sons. So his family is going to enrich themselves off the American taxpayer, off international diplomats, off anyone who wants to bribe him.”

Three prominent Trump properties — Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. and Trump Tower in New York, N.Y. — have been used by the Trump transition team for closed-door meetings with a parade of potential cabinet selections.

“Everything with his name on it becomes not just a terrorism target, but on the other side, becomes an opportunity to buy his favor,” Reid added. “If you want to curry his favor, you don’t have to put money in his hand. You can swipe your [credit] card at his hotel. If you’re a foreign diplomat, you can decide to hold your very expensive events at Mar-a-Lago. You can decide to hold your very expensive golf tournaments at his golf course in Scotland and pay him the premium rate because you know he has a history of overcharging when he has the opportunity to.”

“A monarchy where the president and his family stand to enrich themselves — we don’t know if Donald Trump really is a billionaire because he won’t release his tax returns — but he will be,” Reid added. “Because he has so many opportunities to enrich himself now.”

The Agenda with Ari Rabin-Havt airs weekdays at 6 am ET on SiriusXM Progress (Ch. 127)

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

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