Presidential Ethics Quotes

Once Donald Trump takes the oath of office as president of the United States, the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution makes it clear that he cannot accept those favors.

Voters who disregarded Richard Nixon's involvement in the questionable ethics issue that led to his Checkers speech should not have been surprised when he orchestrated the Watergate cover-up as president.

I would deal with President Trump's business no different than I would deal with any other business that comes before the committee.

Every American president must be held to the highest standard. No president of any color should be given a free pass for screw-ups, lies or failure to keep a promise.

The Constitution's Emoluments Clause bars the president from earning any compensation from a foreign government. Mr. Trump ought to consider a partial disinvestment from his company by either selling outright or rejecting the proceeds of any stakes with foreign government partners.

The president can't have a conflict of interest.

The emoluments clause is in the Constitution for a reason: We, as Americans, need to know that the president acts in our best interests, not his own self-interest.

Trump's foundation has done nothing. Its board is packed with relatives, and he's going to use his presidency to sell himself and his brand and profit personally for himself and his family.

So it's a really sort of mixed issue but I think, no matter whether you're a Democrat or an independent or a Republican, the idea that a sitting president would attempt to leverage dirt on a political opponent from a foreign leader is just beyond the pale.

In the best of circumstances, the Trump family business and questions about conflicts will be a burden to his presidency. There is no off-the-shelf ethics plan that would cover every possible conflict.

Everybody knows that I have tougher ethics rules than any previous President.

If George Washington crossing the Delaware matters, so must his ruthless pursuit of the runagate Oney Judge.

Donald Trump is having foreign leaders spend their money and our government spend their money on his properties. This is not the president of the United States helping create jobs for average Americans.

My advice would be that once [Donald Trump] enters office, there should be a separation, a blind trust or some kind of blind trust.

The Trump administration has struggled with ethics vetting for Cabinet nominees and faced criticism for the president's decision to remain invested in his business empire.

Trump himself stands to benefit dramatically from the tax cuts. One of the things they're cutting is the alternative minimum tax. Last time we have tax returns for him was in 2005, where he paid about $31 million because of the alternative minimum tax. He won't have to pay that, if this tax bill goes through. So, not only is he reordering our constitutional democracy, he is personally enriching himself - which is not new, because, of course, he's done it ever since he swore an oath to become president of the United States.

The President should not be able to enrich himself and his family at taxpayer expense, period.

The president-elect [Donald Trump] himself in the interview with "The New York Times" says there is no law that governs conflict of interest in - with the president.

I think concerns with a member of Congress with a cabinet official being active in business. I don't see why it wouldn't apply to the president.

President Trump and his family are complying with all the ethical rules, everything they need to do to step away from his businesses and be a full-time president.

Our nation owes a debt of gratitude to anyone who serves honourably. I think it's despicable that a president would put veterans on his website and list them on an enemies list.

And I think after the history of this first term is written and you look back, you're going to see that compared to other administrations or by any other standard you'd want to apply, that it has been an extraordinarily clean, corruption-free administration because the President [Nixon] insists on that.

The fact that Trump's refused to divest from his labyrinth of business holdings, the fact that he's continuing to profit from his brand and indeed create all kinds of new opportunities to profit off the presidency is outrageous. The flip side is that he's left out a lot of levers through which to pressure him. You know, the reason you want a president to divest from his business holdings is that foreign governments can try to exert pressure on him by becoming customers of these hotels and inflating the value of how much they're willing to pay for a Trump brand.

I don't take private phone calls from the Trump Administration anymore.

We've had presidents that have put their stock into account and they didn't know what their stock mix was and I like that. And I think Donald Trump has agreed that he would do the same on his stock. He's either sold it or will do it.