If Donald Trump thinks he can use the presidency to make business deals for himself and his family, Senate Democrats are prepared to defend the sanctity of the office.Over the course of the campaign and after the election, Trump has insisted that his many conflicts of interest surrounding his business empire do not matter. But the Constitution says that officeholders in the United States government may not receive presents, emoluments, or titles from foreign states.Article I, section 9 states,No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.And since Trump s business receives money from foreign nations, he would be violating the Constitution on the first day of his administration. And it s even worse when one considers that Trump s businesses have ties to businesses backed by foreign governments such as in the Philippines, and that foreign governments could blackmail Trump by threatening his profits or his foreign business partners. Trump could also use the presidency to extract business deals from nations in exchange for American support or aid, even if helping certain nations goes against the best interests of our country.In short, Trump should be forced to put his company in a blind trust or sell it altogether to avoid these problems and put these conflicts of interest to rest.That s why Senate Democrats plan to introduce a bill to do just that. Our President-elect has significantly greater risk of business and financial conflicts of interest than any other president, yet has so far refused to follow the precedent set by previous presidents. To this day, President-elect Trump has refused to address his conflicts of interest,  Senator Chris Coons said.Coons, along with Senators Elizabeth Warren, Ben Cardin, Dick Durbin, and Jeff Merkley have all endorsed the legislation and pointed out that presidents have divested their financial interests to avoid violating the Constitution for decades. If Trump is allowed to be president and keep his business decades of precedent would be wiped out, paving the way for anyone to use the presidency for personal profit. The American people deserve to know that the President of the United States is working to do what s best for the country   not using his office to do what s best for himself and his businesses,  Elizabeth Warren said.  The only way for President-elect Trump to truly eliminate conflicts of interest is to divest his financial interests and place them in a blind trust. This has been the standard for previous presidents, and our bill makes clear the continuing expectation that President-elect Trump do the same. Republicans, of course, will probably refuse to bring the bill to a vote on the Senate floor, and if they do they ll be helping Trump violate the Constitution that they claim to hold so dear.Senate Democrat s are preparing for a war and they should be. After all, Republicans have established precedent for obstructing and attacking a president over the last eight years and turnabout is fair play. Anything less than fighting Trump s agenda every second of every day over the next four years is unacceptable.Featured Image: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images