After a huge backlash over ethical concerns, a State Department website has removed a blog post promoting President Trump‘s Mar-a-Lago resort.
The post was initially published on ShareAmerica.gov, a platform used by the State Department platform touted as a place to share “compelling stories.” The blog post chronicling the history of Trump’s “Winter White House” was seen by many as promoting the President’s private business interests.
“The intention of the article was to inform the public about where the President has been hosting world leaders,” the page now reads. “We regret any misperception and have removed the post.”
In Trump's America, government-run websites sometimes have to issue retractions. pic.twitter.com/fmxDEjp609
— Sky Palma (@DeadStateTweets) April 25, 2017
As The Hill points out, ethics watchdogs have long warned about the potential conflict of interest posed by the Florida resort. During a segment on CNN’s The Lead this Monday, host Jake Tapper slammed the “shameless promotion” of the blog post.
“Well, they’re just shamelessly promoting his products on U.S. government, taxpayer-financed websites,” Tapper said. “And we know that Mar-a-Lago has benefited from President Trump being elected president.”
