Even while in office, President Donald Trump remains financially tied to his globe-spanning business empire — including the Trump Doral resort in south Florida, where he’s been pushing to host the next G7 summit of world leaders. CNN’s Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta dragged the White House on Twitter this week over the absurdity of their push for the venue for the event. If it did — by some freak of nature — happen there, it would entail the sitting president of the United States literally using the presidency for a cash grab.
Even though Trump’s hosting plans do not seem to be at all official at present, the official White House Twitter account still touted a clip of Trump “sharing the location of the next G7 summit, hosted by the United States” anyway. Acting like a mouthpiece for collective shock at these unprecedented developments, Acosta shared in response:
‘This is the official account for the White House promoting Trump’s private resort in Miami as location for next G7. Your tax dollars at work… for Trump.’
This is the official account for the White House promoting Trump’s private resort in Miami as location for next G7. Your tax dollars at work… for Trump. https://t.co/sJlie0dxLR
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) August 27, 2019
The Trump Doral resort has even been struggling lately. According to a report in The Washington Post from earlier this year, their profits have fallen by as much as 70 percent since 2015 or so, when Trump first rose to national prominence with his bid for the presidency. The implication thereby ends up pretty clear — Trump’s personal brand’s newest round of toxicity is hurting business, and he has the oh-so-great idea of using the powers of the presidency to turn that around. At his press conference at the end of this year’s G7 summit, he claimed that if the plans for next year went through, “in my opinion I’m not going to make any money” — but we’re just supposed to take that seriously when he’s lied over 10,000 times in office? Not likely.
The Senate Finance Committee’s ranking member Ron Wyden (D-OR) insisted:
‘Under no circumstances should the G7 be held at Trump’s Doral resort, which would be one of the most egregious examples of corruption and self-dealing in a presidency replete with them… Requiring our allies to spend money at the president’s hotel would be an insult to them and a violation of our Constitution’s emoluments clause.’
What actually happens remains to be seen.
Check out Twitter’s response below…
Featured Image via screenshot
