Attorneys for US President Donald Trump [official website] on Wednesday asked [motion, PDF] for a dismissal of a lawsuit [text, pdf] over an alleged infringement of the Emoluments Clause [text] of the constitution. Lawyers argued [Bloomberg report] that the President has “absolute presidential immunity precludes personal liability based on the president’s office”. The lawsuit was filed by a wine bar over the implications the Presidents new hotel will have when effecting local business. The attorneys for the wine bar believe that the President will not be immune, as the exemption does not apply to personal acts that effect private business. It is being claimed that there are improper benefits being received by the Hotel drawing international customers in order to curry favor to the President, in turn creating an economic burden on other local business.

President Trump continues to face legal challenges both personally and to some of his administration’s actions within the early days of his presidency. In April a federal judge granted an injunction [JURIST report] over a Trump executive order targeting the funding of sanctuary cities. This was just another challenge to one of the key Trump goals of targeting immigration. Trump is facing multiple challenges [JURIST report] over alleged infringements over the emoluments clause. Though the President has been challenged over executive orders and alleged violations of the emoluments clause, the legal challenges in recent months have not been limited to these types of challenges. President Trump called for immunity [JURIST report] over a protest lawsuit where the charge is that then campaigning Trump incited violence at one of his rallies.