Dear Mr. Rick Barker (regarding your June 13 letter to the editor):
In my June 6 letter, I did not claim that only Republicans land lucrative opportunities after leaving public service. I wrote: “Once they exit public service, Mr. (Pete) Hegseth and Mr. (Dan) Bongino will be able to cash in handsomely — just like many Republicans and Democrats before them, if they choose.”
As you can see, I explicitly included Democrats.
President Donald Trump isn’t waiting to leave office to make money. He’s already busy with cryptocurrency ventures. Just last month, he hosted a private dinner for the top 220 holders of his Trump meme coin. The White House stated that President Trump attended the event on his personal time.
But that raises the question: Do presidents ever truly have personal time, or are they always on duty, serving the public interest? Call me old-fashioned, but I don’t think the commander-in-chief should have a side hustle.
Philip Wasserman
Santa Clarita
