Trump choice fuels more conflict
WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump will host next year’s G7 economic summit of leaders from developed nations at his Florida golf resort, a move Democrats and others decried as more evidence of the president misusing his office for personal gain.
White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Thursday told a news conference that the G7 summit would take place at Trump National Doral golf resort near Miami from June 10-12, after the administration chose it from about a dozen potential sites.
An important draw is the club’s size — 900 acres (364 hectares), including three golf courses, according to Mulvaney, who said all the foreign delegations and the press could be housed “on campus”.
The Republican president faces criticism and a number of congressional investigations over his finances and potential conflicts of interest stemming from his real estate business, which he still owns.
He also faces an impeachment inquiry into accusations that pursued political interests in dealings with Ukraine.
The US Constitution’s emoluments clause prohibits government officials from receiving salaries, fees or profits from foreign and domestic governments without congressional approval.
Democrats have said they would investigate Trump’s plan to host the G7 at his property after he floated the idea in August.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, and other Democratic lawmakers decried the choice. “The Constitution is clear: The president cannot accept gifts or payments from foreign governments. No one is above the law,” Pelosi wrote on Twitter.
In a statement, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler called the announcement “among the most brazen examples yet of the President’s corruption”. Nadler said the committee would continue investigating “regarding these matters”.
Mulvaney told reporters that he his
Trump will not profit from use of the property because any charges would be “at cost”. He also said using Doral “was millions of dollars cheaper” than other facilities and would lead to “roughly 50 percent savings”.
“Face it, he’d be criticized regardless of what he chose to do. But, no, there’s no issue here on him profiting from this in any way, shape or form,” Mulvaney said.
Trump has repeatedly attacked Joe Biden, a leading Democratic presidential candidate and former vice-president, over his son Hunter’s business ties in Ukraine, which Trump has repeatedly, and without evidence, called corrupt.
Asked how the president’s use of his private business properties to host official government events differed from Trump’s accusations against the Bidens, Mulvaney told reporters there would be no profit and said the family had made its money before Trump became president in January 2017.