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Trump blurs politics and the personal

The President of the United States attacked another American corporation yesterday but this time it was very personal. He slammed a retailer’s decision to stop carrying Ivanka Trump’s clothing and accessories lines, tweeting that his daughter had “been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom.”

“She is a great person — always pushing me to do the right thing!” Donald Trump wrote. “Terrible!”

Trump then had his beleaguered press secretary defend him. Sean Spicer said Trump had “every right to stand up for his family and applaud their business activities, their success.” But that is not quite what Trump did. He sought revenge against a publicly traded company that made a business decision that adversely affected a member of his family.

Trump has yet to understand and respect the line between public policy and his private life.

Ivanka Trump is an adult, an adept businesswoman with a powerful last name who understands the importance of brands. While her company states that profits are up and says more outlets are being added, Nordstrom says her brand is not selling right now. Nor is her jewelry available at Neiman Marcus, or on some fashion websites, and T.J. Maxx has advised its stores to take down display signs featuring her merchandise and mix the remaining stock with the regular racks of clothes.

This is not about a dad defending his daughter, as Harry Truman famously did about Margaret’s terrible piano playing. Rather, it’s all about the money.

Here’s more evidence. First Lady Melania Trump filed a defamation lawsuit this week against the Daily Mail, a British newspaper that published negative stories about her early career as a model. To support her claim for $150 million in damages, Melania Trump said her brand lost significant value and diminished her earning power with her losing a “unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to earn millions of dollars during her “multi-year term” as “one of the most photographed women in the world.”

When will the president realize the Oval Office is not the Home Shopping Network?