emolument

Article II, Section 1 and Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution prohibit the president in particular and public officials in general from receiving any emolument from domestic or foreign sources while in office.

The foreign emolument section states that, without congressional assent, neither the president nor other office holders can “accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”

To combat potential bribes, the framers in 1787 adopted — with almost no debate — language based on the 1781 Articles of Confederation that prohibited all persons “holding any Office of Profit or Trust” from accepting any “present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind” from any “foreign State” without approval from Congress.

Because the United States had no navy, there was “no public employment for my Military talents” and “no emolument or profit whatever” from the military, Jones said.

To the chagrin of anyone who knew how to pronounce emolument, Trump’s presidency seemed like an instant boon to his business.