Trump says for 1st time he’s figure in probe
His anger grows amid Russia investigation
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump acknowledged for the first time Friday that he is under federal investigation as part of the expanding probe into Russia’s election meddling. He also lashed out at a top Justice Department official overseeing the inquiry, reflecting his mounting frustration with the unrelenting controversy that has consumed his early presidency.
“I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt,” the president wrote on Twitter.
His morning missive apparently referred to Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general whose role leading the federal investigation has become increasingly complicated. The White House has used a memo he wrote to justify Mr. Trump’s decision to fire the FBI’s then-director, James Comey, but that action
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s Washington hotel saw almost $20 million in revenue during its first few months of operation — a period that coincided with his election and inauguration as the 45th president. His Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, which he’s visited seven times as president, pulled in millions of dollars more than it had previously.
The new details are included in a financial disclosure that Mr. Trump voluntarily submitted Friday to the Office of Government Ethics, the first snapshot of the Trump Organization’s finances after its longtime leader became president.
When he took office in January, Mr. Trump turned over the reins of his global real estate, property management and marketing empire to his two adult sons and a senior executive. But Mr. Trump did not divest, instead placing his enormous portfolio of financial assets in a trust controlled by the executive and Donald Trump Jr. He can take back control of the trust at any time, and he’s free to withdraw cash from it as he pleases.
His latest financial disclosure covers January 2016 through this spring.
The documents have added importance because Mr. Trump isn’t following the long tradition of presidential candidates and office-holders making public their tax returns. Those returns provide more complete financial information than the financial disclosures, which include mostly broad ranges for income and debts.
The report shows Mr. Trump resigned from more than 500 positions, stepping down from many on the day before his inauguration. Mr. Trump listed at least $315 million in liabilities, about the same as in a report he filed last year.
The president still owes more than $100 million to Deutsche Bank and a similar amount to Ladder Capital Finance, a New Yorkbased real estate investment trust.
What is unclear from the disclosure is whether Mr. Trump added to his debt in any significant way to help pay for his presidential campaign. Because the ranges required for disclosure under federal ethics laws are so wide — Mr. Trump’s disclosure lists five separate liabilities each at “over $50,000,000” — it is impossible to tell whether his debt load has changed appreciably.
Some of Mr. Trump’s businesses appear to be earning more money than they had a year earlier.
Mar-a-Lago, where Mr. Trump played host to several foreign dignitaries during his seven weekends there this winter, has improved its finances. Mr. Trump listed the resort’s income as about $37 million, up from about $30 million it had taken in prior to his May 2016 financial report.