Trump winery eligible for bailout in virus relief law

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump’s Virginia vineyard could be eligible for a federal bailout under the $2.2 trillion coronavirus stimulus he signed into law last month, despite provisions in the bill that Democrats said were intended to prevent him and his family from personally benefiting.

Deep in the fine print of the law passed by Congress to try to arrest an economic free fall is language that would the make the vineyard eligible for aid extended to growers and producers of “specialty crops,” among them grapes used to make wine.

There is no indication that any of Trump’s companies, which are currently being operated by his sons, will apply for the aid, and a company representative said Friday there were no plans to do so.

The White House declined to comment, but last month, Trump refused to rule the possibility out.

“Let’s just see what happens, because we have to save some of these great companies,” he said on March 22, when asked specifically during a news conference if his companies would forgo such aid.

Trump's private business interests have been the subject of scrutiny from the moment he decided that, unlike other presidents, he would not divest his holdings or put them in a trust when he assumed the presidency. Most recently, he proposed holding the G-7 summit — which has since been canceled because of the outbreak — at his Doral resort in Florida, only to abandon the effort after intense criticism.

Federal employees, officeholders and officials are prohibited by laws and regulations intended to stop them from personally benefiting from their positions. Many of those restrictions, however, don't apply to the president, including provisions aimed at limiting conflicts of interest.

After Trump refused to say whether his companies...