When Conflicts of Interest Are Not In Conflict

Folks, Trump does not have a conflict of interest.  Sure, he is discussing with foreign leaders his business interests, but the key is this:

A conflict of interest requires there to be two sets of interests.  Trump only cares about himself, not the national interest.  Ta da, no conflict.

Seriously, has Trump ever been interested in anything besides himself?  Has he had an other-regarding moment?  Yes, what Trump is doing is profoundly wrong, Constitution-wrong given the specific discussion of this stuff (only took 225 years for this to become super-relevant).  But we should not be surprised.  Appalled?  Yes. 

Does it matter?  The Trump resistance will need to demonstrate to the public that Trump is actually hurting Americans when he violates the norms/rules/laws AND we need to put pressure on him via the constituents in the districts of Republican and "centrist" Democrats.  If the House/Senate folks feel no pressure, then they will not defend the Republic.

Just don't expect Trump to change his behavior--only if it costs him something.  Because he has always been inappropriate, he has always tried to do what he wants, regardless of the rules/laws/definition of decency.