Why Trump’s Nordstrom Tweet May Have Crossed An Ethical Line

The following article by Elizabeth Segran was posted on the Fast Company website February 8, 2017:

Once the official @POTUS account retweeted his criticism of its decision to drop Ivanka’s products, everything changed

U.S. President Donald Trump and his daughter Ivanka walk to board Marine One at the White House in Washington, D.C., on February 1, 2017.
[Photo: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images]
After a week of major retailers dropping Ivanka Trump’s products, the #GrabYourWallet boycott made its biggest impact ever today when it prompted the president of the United States to respond with an angry tweet that may have crossed an ethical line, say government ethics experts.

This morning, just 20 minutes into a national security briefing in the Oval Office, President Trump went on Twitter to take a swing at Nordstrom, which announced last Thursday that it would no longer sell Ivanka Trump products: “My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person — always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!” Within seconds, the share price of the retailer, which attributed its decision to the brand’s poor performance, dipped for a few minutes before quickly recovering. Later, the official @POTUS account retweeted Trump’s tweet, a possible ethics violation which illustrates the conflicts of interest inherent in the real-estate mogul’s new role as the president. Continue reading “Why Trump’s Nordstrom Tweet May Have Crossed An Ethical Line”