Sarah Gonzalez

David Kirkpatrick set out to not just come up with the number, the how much money Trump and his family have made number, that approaching $4 billion number.

He wanted to also show why some of their new deals probably would not have happened if Trump wasn't the president of the United States.

So how in the like scale of how, you know, perfect, would you say you're like 75 percent there, 50 percent there?

And just one thing before we get into the full accounting.

OK, but what happened to the emoluments clause?

Like I thought the whole deal was that you're not supposed to profit off of the presidency.

So think of the D.C.

hotel.

Remember the D.C.

hotel?

That was like the first big instance in the first Trump term where people were worried about foreign leaders, but also CEOs, booking rooms there to try to curry favor with the president as an impermissible emolument.

There were lawsuits, but they were never fully litigated before he left office.

It feels so quaint now.

David says Trump didn't make money off the D.C.

hotel.

It apparently repelled as many potential customers as it attracted.

Some foreign leaders and lobbyists didn't want to be caught up in some emoluments scandal.

If we were going to whittle down your list to the top three most fun or creative or unusual ways that Trump and the Trump family have gotten richer or profited off of the presidency, what are like your highlights?

Me too.

I love the merch one.