Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Deutch rips Trump’s pitch
Congressman: Using Doral golf resort for G7 summit violates emoluments clause
U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, says President Donald Trump’s desire to hold next year’s summit of the Group of 7 world headers at his Doral golf resort is clearly improper — and an investigation is warranted.
As this year’s G7 wrapped up in France on Monday, Trump was looking forward to the U.S. hosting the event next year. After his “people” thoroughly reviewed 12 sites, the president said, they came up with the perfect location: The Trump National golf resort in Doral.
On Monday in France, Trump said of the location, “It’s like such an natural,” and rattled off a series of advantages that he said only Doral has to offer: “magnificent buildings,” “five minutes from the airport,” “magnificent views,” “incredible conference rooms, incredible restaurants.”
One of the occasions he touted Doral, at a news conference, was a three-minute promotion for its amenities, combined with an assertion that holding the event there wouldn’t help his personal finances.
Deutch scoffed at the president’s statements.
“I’m disappointed that the president didn’t have time to attend the G7 meeting on climate change, but found time to put himself out there as the convention manager for his hotel in Doral,” he said in a brief interview Thursday after an unrelated event.
Trump was the only one of the G7 leaders to skip the session devoted to climate change. His press secretary later said Trump “had scheduled meetings and bilaterals with Germany and India” so he couldn’t make it. But the leaders of both Germany and India were at the climate meeting.
“That hotel shouldn’t even be in the running. Of course the president benefits from it. Why even make this an issue? He should simply put that aside and let the procurement process work
the way it’s supposed to. Don’t even tiptoe into a discussion about the emoluments clause again, which is being violated every day,” Deutch said.
The emoluments clause of the Constitution prohibits a president from receiving “any present, emolument, office or title of any kind whatever from any king, prince, or foreign state.” Trump critics have complained he’s already violating it because of foreign governments’ spending money at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, although efforts to press such claims in court have not been successful so far.
U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said this week the panel would investigate the Doral question.
Deutch, who represents parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties and is a member of the House Judiciary Committee, has been critical of the president on multiple issues.
He said the emoluments clause question puts it in the panel’s purview. The same committee is handling multiple investigations of Trump and his administration, and would be the place where any impeachment resolution would start.
Despite Trump’s assertion that he wasn’t at all interested in making money for Trump National Doral, its finances have been in decline since he became president. Multiple news organizations have reported that Trump’s financial disclosures show its 2018 income was $74.8 million — down from the $115.9 million revenue he reported for 2016.