Topline
Former President Trump’s businesses—which he never fully divested from—received at least $7.8 million in payments directly from at least 17 foreign governments over the course of his presidency, according to a report published by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Thursday.
China, Saudia Arabia, and the U.A.E. all paid former President Trump’s businesses millions for hotel … [+] stays and rent while he was in office.
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Key Facts
The government of China was the largest spender at Trump properties, according to the report, spending a total of $5,572,548 at Trump Tower and the Trump International Hotels in Washington, D.C. and Las Vegas.
Notably, Trump chose not to impose sanctions on ICBC, a Chinese bank that the Justice Department alleged was helping North Korea avoid sanctions (ICBC’s U.S. headquarters is located at Trump Tower, and paid Trump approximately $7 million in rent at Trump Tower, according to Forbes reporting).
Saudi Arabia also spent an estimated $615,422, the majority of which was sent through a monthly $11,189.21 rent for a property on the 45th floor in Trump Tower.
Meanwhile, Trump signed off on a $100 billion arms deal, and became the first U.S. president to make Saudi Arabia his first foreign visit in office.
The United Arab Emirates spent $65,225 at the Trump International Hotel in Washington over seven months while the Gulf nation was pushing the U.S. to support a blockade of its neighbor Qatar.
The government of India, where Trump owns his largest portfolio of foreign businesses, spent $282,764—mostly on monthly rent for two apartments at Trump Tower.
Key Background
The Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution bans the President from accepting “any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State” without the consent of Congress. Trump refused to hand his businesses over to a blind trust, as other presidents had in the past, instead leaving the day-to-day business to his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. House Democrats now argue that the Trump family was able to profit from the presidency by accepting payments for rent and hotel stays at Trump properties during his time in office. The House Oversight Committee compiled the report with documents obtained from the 2020 Supreme Court case Trump v. Mazars USA, which saw the former president sue to prevent his former accounting firm from complying with a subpoena. However, the Democrats also acknowledged the data in the report was incomplete. After Republicans became the majority in the House in 2023, new Oversight Committee Chair Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., decided he would not force Mazars to finish production of documents from the case and would “release it from further obligations under the settlement agreement”—a move the House Democrats decried as “outrageous.”
Further Reading
MORE FROM FORBESTrump Owed Hidden Debt While In OfficeBy Dan AlexanderMORE FROM FORBESChina Paid Trump Millions In Rent. Then He Left The White HouseBy Dan AlexanderMORE FROM FORBESTrump Takes Credit For Ending Kosovo War, Which Ended In 1999By Joe WalshMORE FROM FORBESTrump Committed Fraud By Inflating His Assets, Judge RulesBy Alison Durkee
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