FOR FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS, TRUMP’S HOTEL IS THE PLACE TO BE
Philippines the latest nation to plan event at D. C. resort, and it comes as the country negotiates new trade deal
WASHINGTON — First came Kuwait. Then Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Now it’s the Philippines’ turn.
It is the latest foreign government to book rooms or host events at the Trump International Hotel in Washington D. C., riling critics who say such bookings are nothing more than attempts to curry favor with President Donald Trump.
The Philippine Independence Day celebration set for June 12 comes as the country pushes for a free- trade agreement with the U. S. and amid international criticism of President Rodrigo Duterte for encouraging vigilante killings of drug suspects.
“The Trump hotel may have some political undertones because it is associated with the U. S. president,” Jose Manuel Romualdez, the Philippine ambassador to the U. S., wrote in a column in The Philippine Star newspaper earlier this week. “But since several other embassies have also held their national day celebrations at the Trump hotel which were well attended — I decided — why not do it there, too.”
The Philippine Embassy has sent out 300 invitations for the party to mark the 120th year since the country broke from Spanish rule. Guests, including U. S. senators and Congress members, will nosh on Filipino food and cocktails. The embassy didn’t directly respond to questions on whether the booking was intended to influence the president, referring instead to the ambassador’s column.
Coincidentally, the party comes a day after the next scheduled hearing in the federal court “emoluments” lawsuit by the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia. They are accusing Trump of accepting unconstitutional gifts from foreign interests, specifically by throwing events and booking rooms at the Trump Washington hotel. Such bookings are tantamount to bribes, the plaintiffs argue, because Trump’s refusal to divest himself from his businesses means the money paid for rooms, meeting spaces, food and drinks eventually finds its way into his pocket.
Trump has sought to assuage concerns about foreign government spending at his properties by offering to donate profits from such business to the U. S. Treasury. But critics say the gesture has lacked transparency. A Trump Organization payment of $ 151,470 last month was intended to cover such profits from 2017, but the company refused to provide details on how the figure was calculated and which foreign governments were involved.
Neither the White House nor the Trump Organization responded to requests for comment.
The leader of the Philippines has reason to be plenty thankful to Trump, and to continue to keep him happy.
Western countries and human rights groups have denounced Duterte for an anti- drug campaign that has included more than 2,000 extrajudicial killings by masked gunmen on motorcycles and others. But Trump has said Duterte is doing a “great job” with his crackdown.
There are economic concerns, too. With Trump’s decision to drop out of the Trans- Pacific Partnership agreement, Duterte has been pushing for the kind bilateral free trade deal that 20 other countries enjoy with the U. S.