Trump’s Nordstrom tweet raises ethics concerns

Trump on Wednesday morning criticized the retailer’s decision to drop his daughter Ivanka Trump’s clothing line, calling it “terrible.” That tweet was retweeted by the official @POTUS account maintained by the White House, and Trump’s criticism was later defended by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who said that Trump has the right to stand up for his family.

Critics, such as Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., protested Trump’s use of the official government account to carry out a personal feud.

But Trump may not have overstepped federal guidelines in taking aim at the private company from the presidential Twitter account.

“I can’t think of any law that prohibits presidential tweets,” said Jan Baran, an ethics expert at the law firm Wiley Rein.

Federal guidelines require that official social media accounts are only used for official business, but the White House determines what constitutes official business for its own accounts.

Yet Trump still may have crossed the line in his criticism, according to Richard Painter, a professor at the University of Minnesota law school and former chief ethics lawyer to President George W. Bush.

“This is misuse of public office for private gains,” Painter said. “And it is abuse of power because the official message is clear — Nordstrom is persona non grata with the administration.”

If the Trump administration were to take some sort of action related to Nordstrom in the future, Painter noted, the company might have a due process argument and the right to discovery regarding whether the administration acted as part of a vendetta.

Even in matters related to government business, such as negotiations with banks during the financial crisis, top officials did not lash out at specific companies, Painter noted.

“Absolutely unacceptable,” he said of Trump’s comments.