On his first day as a private citizen, the former head of the US Office of Government Ethics dropped a verbal bombshell by accusing the Trump administration of causing “a state of crisis” and harming the nation’s international ethical standing.
Walter Shaub, who earlier this month announced his resignation from the post he'd held since 2013, he didn't think the US president had even attempted to live up to the office's standards.
"He did absolutely nothing at all," he said.
"He's done nothing to resolve those conflicts of interest. By not selling off his assets he’s putting question [on] every governmental decision.
"We can’t know what his intent is but we shouldn’t have to wonder, and it raises a question as to whether or not his decisions are motivated by his policy aims or his own personal financial interest."
Mr Shaub had a history of criticising the US leader over his business holdings and held a press conference prior to Trump's January inauguration, calling on him to divest his business interests.
He was scathing of Mr Trump's public comments on the matter.
The former bureaucrat also responded to White House criticism while he was still in the job, which accused him of 'grandstanding'.
"That's just the playbook of this White House, that if anybody speaks the truth to power in the United States anymore they're going to smear them."
Mr Shaub said the ethical guidelines governing the US presidency had an important role, and that Mr Trump was putting that in danger.
"The legal compliance in the executive branch of the federal government is the difference between being a criminal and not being a criminal," Mr Shaub said.
"We deserve better than being able to say the president is not a criminal."
