Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a report Thursday documenting at least $7.8 million in payments from foreign governments that former President Donald Trump’s hotel and apartment businesses received while he was in the White House.
All of these payments are illegal, as I and many others have pointed out since 2016 when we urged Trump to sell his businesses before assuming the presidency.
Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign did not immediately reply to a request for comment from NBC News.
According to the Democrats’ report, patrons of Trump businesses included leaders or government officials from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, India and Afghanistan. The single biggest spender was China, which reportedly paid more than $5.5 million to Trump-owned properties. These payments went to hotels and other businesses Trump owned in Washington, Las Vegas and New York City. The House report says “these countries spent — often lavishly — on apartments and hotel stays at Donald Trump’s properties.”
All of these payments are illegal, as I and many others have pointed out since 2016 when we urged Trump to sell his businesses before assuming the presidency. Such payments are flatly prohibited by the Constitution. Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 of the Constitution, Emoluments Clause forbids the president and every other person holding a position of trust with the United States government, from accepting gifts or “emoluments” (profits and benefits) “of any kind whatever” from foreign governments without first obtaining “Consent of the Congress” to do so. This includes any payments from corporations and other entities controlled by foreign governments.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, wrote in the foreword of the report that “Donald Trump, while holding the office of president, used his business entities to pocket millions of dollars from foreign states and royalty and never once went to…
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