Like Menendez, Trump took a gold bar
Argues gifts were legal, because they were given to his presidential library
By: Charles Stile
Political Stile
USA Today Network
..... Lost in the ongoing news storm over the Epstein files was President Donald Trump'Now, you may read this and s decision to dramatically slash tariffs on Swiss goods after a delegation of industry "tycoons" came bearing lavish gifts - including a 1-kilogram, personalized gold bar.
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Now, you may read this and ask: didn't New Jersey just watch one of its United States senators get packed off to federal prions for accepting gold bars and other goodies in exchange for taking official action on behalf of a foreign government? "Gold Bar: Bob Menendez was the target of a sweeping corruption investigation. Trump was the target of a Swiss charm offensive.
..... I'm not pointing out this irony in an effort to build a sympathetic reconsideration of Menendez's corruption.
..... A jury of his peers in Manhattan found him guilty of essentially putting his Senate-office shingle out for sale to go-betweens with Egyptian officials, who rewarded him with a whole range of "fruits of the bribery scheme," as federal prosecutors put it. His wife, Nadine Arwslanian Menendez, a co-conspirtor convicted in a separate trial, was sentenced to 4 1/2 years.
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But Trump's decision to reward the Swiss visitors who, protected Axios News, came counting with a swag bag filled with glittering goods and who piled on the flattery, illustrates in stark terms the dual-track rule of law in the Trump era.
..... On one side are the laws and customs that the rest of the country must abide by, and on the other are Trump and his allies, living - in the gilded bubble of immunity - by their own rules.
..... Trump's separate-and-unequal standard is not simply a reflection of his won autocratic world view. He was given basically a license to grit by a 2024 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which declared that the president is immune from prosecution while conducting official acts in office. In this case, the "official act" was slashing duties on Swiss goods form 39% to 15%.
..... "Any other public official aside from President Trump would be subject to the allegation that they are receiving an illegal benefit in connection with the exercise of their duties, and therefor it constitutes bribery," said Joseph Hayden, a veteran New Jersey criminal defense attorney. But, he said the Supreme Court ruling "could well be a complete defense."
..... trump officials argued that the gifts - including a Rolex desktop clock and the gold bar, engraved with the number "45" and"47" to mark his presidency -were legal because they were given to his presidential library. But ethics watchdogs say that that's a distinction that should not make much of a difference.
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"It appears as if there;s a quid pro quo of a gift from foreign interests to the president in return for a concession on tariffs, and once this precedent is set, we'll have other countries and industries offering the same," Richard Painter, a law professor at the University of Minnesota and former White House ethics lawyer fr George W, Bush, said in a recent NPR interview. "and this is a matter of grave concern for the United States."
Concern with Trump's presidency is growing
..... Trump may be free to flout the law or customize ti as he sees fit, but the court of public opinion may have other ideas. his crass, Marie Antoinette-style indifference to rules and norms has never harmed him politically, but there are signs that a broader swath of the public is starting to take notice.
..... A number of polls taken this fall [2025] found that a majority of voters believe that Trump is operating outside his legal and constitutional authority. And a Pew Research poll in late September [2025] of some 3,455 respondents found that 61% believe Trump improperly use his office to enrich himself.
..... The public has witnessed a gaudy parade of Trump grift - the cryptoenriching of his family members, the intertwining of Saudi diplomacy with Trump deal making the gifting of a luxury jet from Qatari officials; and now, a comparatively small-bore swag bag with a gold bar estimated at $130,000, which presumably will sit on a shelf of his presidential library - someday.
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"These gifts cerate a terrible optic in connection with the president and our government," Hayden said.
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It's worth noting that Menendez and his lawyers sought to get some of the charges against him dismissed during his federal trial in Manhattan last year [2024] by asserting another from of immunity - that some of his conduct was protected by the "speech and debate" clause of the U.S. constitution.
..... That clause is designed to protect lawmakers against prosecution over official legislative acts, but U.S. district Judge Sidney Stein rejected Menendez's request, finding that the charges in question did not fall into the U.S. Senate's advise-and-consent process.
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After his sentencing, Menendez blasted the prosecution as corrupted and a "witch hunt," and he appealed to Trump in front of a wall of television cameras, possibly for a pardon.
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"President Trump was right," Menendez bellowed. "This process is political and is corrupted to its core. I hope President Trump cleans up the cesspool and restores the integrity to the system."
..... "It doesn't appear Gold Bar Don is coming to the recuse of Gold Bar Bob anytime soon.