Donald Trump paid for his son’s boy scout fees out of his now-defunct nonprofit Trump Foundation, which is just one example of how cheap the president is. A woman who worked decades for his real estate business claimed that he used the cheapest materials in his buildings. POTUS hired undocumented workers to staff his resorts, and he served fast food to championship teams that come to the White House. On the invitation, one wonders whether it said BYOB.
Yet, the president has enjoyed showing off his properties and the Emoluments Clause be damned, Trump likes making a buck off of them whenever he can. The secret service had to get rooms when the commander-in-chief made his nearly 126 trips to Mar-a-Lago or one of his other properties. By traveling to his own resorts, Trump has earned the Trump Organization a bare minimum of $1.6 million from federal officials and GOP campaigns.
Now, Trump wants to host the G-7 Summit at his 800-acre Trump National Doral resort, Axios confirmed. The golf club located in Miami, Florida is in the running.
POTUS has hosted both Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and China’s leader Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago. In just four days, the American government paid Mar-a-Lago a minimum of $30,000 for, according to The Washington Post:
‘…meeting rooms and hotel lodgings for then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and other VIPs in suites and beachfront cabanas, the documents show.’
The Group of Seven (G-7) consists of the countries with the seven largest developed economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom. The European Union is also considered a hosting and voting member. According to The Council on Foreign Relations, they meet annually to:
‘…coordinate economic, security, and energy policy, but the Trump administration has provoked questions about the group’s cohesion and relevance to global governance.’
The president owns his own businesses, unllike the previous presidents. He said he turned operations totally over to his sons Donald Trump, Jr. and Eric. However, there had been some question about this, because Trump tends to want to control situations.
Executive director of a watchdog group Property of the People’s executive director Ryan Shapiro said its organization keeps detailed records about federal spending at the various Trump locations through lawsuits and public records requests. Shapiro said, according to The Post:
‘The president knows that by visiting his properties, taxpayer dollars will flow directly into his own pockets. Then, unsurprisingly, the president visits his properties all the time.’
The Defense Department paid $12,000 for rooms at the club according to invoices, emails and other records obtained by Property of the People.
Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN) said:
‘It’s against the emoluments clause of the Constitution to be making money out of the job. And he does it every chance he can.’
The GOP’s political fundraisers and donor meetings have been frequently held at Trump locations, a total of “23 out of 63.” There have been several Republican groups to hold their events at Trump locations, apparently to increase the odds that the president might show up.
One State Department official told The Post he asked the State Department travel coordinator Michael Dobbs:
‘Do you know what they charged for each room?’
Dobbs returned the email indicating that the U.S. government paid a maximum 300 percent:
‘$546 — I believe which is 300% of the lodging per diem.’
The Mueller Report Adventures: In Bite-Sizes on this Facebook page. These quick, two-minute reads interpret the report in normal English for busy people. Mueller Bite-Sizes uncovers what is essentially a compelling spy mystery. Interestingly enough, Mueller Bite-Sizes can be read in any order.
