Not glib at all

How graceful our new royal family is. Don 1 goes to visit survivors of the school shooting and grins like a partying frat boy for the cameras. Don 2 goes to peddle Luxury Properties in India and rejoices at the smiling faces of The Poor.

Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, is in India this week to promote his family’s real estate empire and more than $1 billion worth of luxury Trump Tower projects in four cities, but he still had time to praise India’s poor for their smiles.

“I don’t mean to be glib about it, but you can see the poorest of the poor and there is still a smile on a face,” Trump said Tuesday in an interview with CNBC’s Indian affiliate.  “It’s a different spirit that you don’t see in other parts of the world … and I think there’s something unique about that.”

Let there be a smile on every face! The rich man in his gold-painted penthouse and the poor woman being raped on a bus – let both of them beam a happy smile out on the world. The corrupt fraudulent millionaire and the underpaid domestic worker each can make our lives a little brighter with a happy grin.

Trump arrived on his family’s private jet  Monday for a week of schmoozing and dinners with India’s top business leaders and to wine and dine buyers in the Trump Organization’s latest project. The Trumps have a licensing deal with two Indian developers for two towers outside the capital, New Delhi, where luxury apartments range in price from $780,000 to $1.6 million and have private elevators and concierge service.

Full-page glossy newspaper ads trumpeting Trump’s arrival also tempted buyers to reserve an apartment (paying a booking fee of about $38,000) by Thursday to “join Mr. Donald Trump Jr. for a conversation and dinner” on Friday. The buyers’ dinner has raised conflict of interest concerns and charges by watchdog  groups.

“These ads illustrate the importance of Trump divesting from his business and the danger brought by his failure to divest. Trump’s company is literally selling access to the president’s son overseas,” said Jordan Libowitz, communications director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which is frequently critical of the first family.

Never mind all that – just keep smiling.

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