Trump’s Recent Attack on French Wine Represents Yet Another Conflict of Interest

The President has skin in the game.

AP Photo/Lynne Sladky

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

On Friday, Donald Trump threatened to retaliate against a new French law that taxes American technology companies, and though he didn’t explicitly say how he’d strike back, a tweet suggests he might target the country’s wine industry.

Trump famously doesn’t drink alcohol, so his opinion might not carry that much weight, but he does have a reason to like American wine better—he produces it. In 2011, Trump purchased a Virginia vineyard out of foreclosure and reopened it as Trump Winery. Trump has made various claims about the business, including that it is the largest winery on the East Coast, which is not true. According to Politifact, it is the third-largest winery in Virginia, producing about 36,000 cases of wine a year.

The winery is overseen by his adult son, Eric, however, Trump continues to own the property outright himself. According to his most recent personal financial disclosure, which covers 2018, he made between $200,000 and $2 million renting the land back to Eric, and about $1.1 million in revenue related to the hotel and restaurant that operates at the vineyard. 

So, while wine is not a huge part of Trump’s business, it’s another example of how his own business interests are entwined with his presidency. In fact, in August of 2017, at the same press conference at which Trump notoriously declared there were “very fine people” on both sides of the neo-Nazi protests in Charlottesville, he attempted to soothe the uproar by assuring the public he’s familiar with the area—and plugging the business.

“I mean, I know a lot about Charlottesville. Charlottesville is a great place that’s been very badly hurt over the last couple of days. I own—I own actually one of the largest wineries in the United States that’s in Charlottesville,” Trump told reporters. 

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate