Sean Spicer, Mr. Trump’s press secretary, said the president’s tweet was not about business but about “an attack on his daughter.”
“For people to take out their concern about his actions, or his executive orders, on members
of his family, he has every right to stand up for his family,” Mr. Spicer said.
Take another company that is considering whether or not to drop her line — they obviously
are going to ask themselves if they want to be attacked by the president.”
Mr. Trump’s blast at Nordstrom came two days after his wife, Melania, filed a libel lawsuit
that described her “multiyear term” as “one of the most photographed women in the world” — an apparent reference to her status as a candidate’s wife and now first lady — as a lucrative business opportunity.
But Mr. Weissman said it reinforces that as president, Mr. Trump continues to have
multiple conflicts of interest with his own and his family’s business interests.
WASHINGTON — President Trump lashed out on Wednesday at the Nordstrom department store chain for dropping his daughter Ivanka’s clothing
and accessories line, once again raising ethical questions about the relationship between his presidency and his family’s sprawling business interests.
Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, a group
that promotes ethics in government, said Mr. Trump’s swipe at Nordstrom was not a major issue in itself.
It was not clear if Mr. Spicer was referring to critics of Mr. Trump who have called for a
boycott of businesses bearing the family name, or to some political motive by Nordstrom.