Trump Sets Next G7 Meeting As A Money-Maker For Himself

Past presidents have divested themselves of their business ventures to prevent a violation of the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution. They didn't want even the perception that they might be using their elected office for their own monetary gain.

Donald Trump is different. He has refused to divest himself of his business interests. Even worse, he has made sure his businesses make money off the U.S. government (by taking his vacations and time off at facilities he owns, with the government picking up the tab for him and his family, his aides, and his security).

That's not all. Foreign governments make sure to stay at Trump facilities to incur his favor -- especially his expensive Washington hotel.

Now he has gone a step further. He has set the G7 meeting next year at the Trump Doral golf resort (which he owns). All participants, their aides, and their security details will have to pay Trump to stay at the facility he owns.

He claims he doesn't want to make money off the meeting, and won't make any. He's lying! Of course, he will make money from the meeting. He's the owner, and all profits go to him.

Here's how Bernard Condon and Adriana Gomez Licon report Trump's move for the Associated Press:

President Donald Trump was in full sales mode Monday, doing everything but pass out brochures as he touted the features that would make the Doral golf resort the ideal place for the next G-7 Summit — close to the airport, plenty of hotel rooms, separate buildings for every delegation, even top facilities for the media.

There’s just one detail he left out: He owns the place.

Government ethics watchdogs have long railed against the perils of Trump earning money off the presidency and hosting foreign leaders at his properties. But they say Trump’s proposal to bring world leaders to his Miami-area resort takes the conflict of interest to a whole new level because, unlike stays at his Washington, they would have no choice but to spend money at his property.

“It’s ethics violation squared,” said Kathleen Clark of Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.

Added Larry Noble, a former general counsel at the Federal Election Commission, “This is him making it perfectly mandatory that they stay at his resort.”

Trump’s proposal at the current G-7 Summit in Biarritz, France, portrayed the Doral resort in the most glowing terms, even though he said later he was more interested in logistics for the meeting than making money.

“We have a series of magnificent buildings ... very luxurious rooms,” Trump told reporters. “We have incredible conference rooms, incredible restaurants, it’s like — it’s like such a natural.”

Trump’s pitch comes as several lawsuits accusing the president of violating the U.S. Constitution’s emoluments clause, which bans gifts from foreign governments, wind their way through the courts.

It also comes as Doral, by far the biggest revenue generator among the Trump Organization’s 17 golf properties, appears to have taken a hit from Trump’s move into politics.

The trouble began during soon after Trump announced he was running for the presidency in 2015 with a speech that called Mexican immigrants crossing the border illegally rapists and murders. Businesses started cutting ties to the president. The PGA and NASCAR moved events that used to be booked at Doral elsewhere.

Eric Trump, who is overseeing the business with his older brother, Don Jr., told The Associated Press last year that “the Doral is on fire.” But a financial disclosure report filed with the federal government this year showed revenue at the club has barely been growing — up just $1 million to $76 million.

Trump’s financial disclosure also shows he owes a lot of money to Deutsche Bank for the property, which helped him buy it in 2012. As of the end of last year, Trump had two mortgages on the resort, one for more than $50 million, the other for as much as $25 million. . . .

At Monday’s news conference, Trump spoke as if the idea of making money off the summit never entered his mind. In fact, he said, other people were pushing Doral as a venue — not just him. He said the Secret Service and the military have been visiting various sites and appear to have formed a bit of consensus already.

“They went to places all over the country and they came back and they said, ‘This is where we’d like to be,’” Trump said. “It’s not about me. It’s about getting the right location.”

He then added: “I’m not going to make any money. I don’t want to make money. I don’t care about making money.”