The wording of the clause itself points one way to resolution: Congress can give consent, as it did in the early years of the Republic to presents received by Ben Franklin and John Jay. It can decide what it is willing to live with in the way of Trump conflicts, and then enact those into a resolution approving the resulting set of presents and emoluments. If it misjudges public opinion, it will pay a political price at the next election.
If it doesn’t act, could someone sue to enforce the Emoluments Clause? Even if a litigant could be found who has standing to sue, it’s quite possible that the U.S. Supreme Court could turn the dispute down on the grounds that it’s a political question for which the indicated constitutional remedy should be impeachment.
But it can’t be good for America to generate a series of possible impeachable offenses from a running stream of controversies about whether arm’s-length prices were charged in transactions petty or grand. Impeachment would be overkill for petty infractions, but quite appropriate if Trump ends up engaging in massive corruption.
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