Again the scumbag profits from his presidency while we pay his expenses.

President Trump is set to ring in the new year the same way he has for about two decades — at the lavish party he hosts at his private club here.

But this weekend’s gala at Mar-a-Lago, his first since becoming president, will be a little different: The security will be tighter. The crowds will probably be bigger. And the tickets will run $750 a guest, a hike from last year, according to members and guests.

That ticket hike is profiteering from public office.

Critics said the boost in prices for Sunday’s party and Trump’s regular trips to Trump Organization properties — this is the president’s tenth visit to Mar-a-Lago this year — show how he is using his position to promote his brand.

“The president continues to find ways to profit from public office, by exploiting the fact that there are people who will pay to spend time with him and to be seen with him,” said Kathleen Clark, a government ethics expert at the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.

Walter Shaub too.

https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/947530088639279104

And they won’t talk about it.

The White House and Trump Organization officials did not respond to requests for comment. A woman who answered the phone at Mar-a-Lago declined to share details about the party with a nonmember and said there was no press office to respond to inquiries.

They have no right to stonewall questions or decline to share details. He’s doing all of this at our expense and while holding public office. None of this is “private.”