- The
Trump International Hotel received millions from foreign governments while Trump was president. - New documents show that Trump's hotel got more than $3.7 million from foreign governments.
The Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, received millions of dollars from foreign governments while former President
According to a trove of documents the
Committee chairwoman Carolyn Maloney and subcommittee on government operations chairman Gerald Connolly said in a joint statement that the revelation raises additional "concerns about possible violations of the Constitution's Foreign
"This amount would have been sufficient to cover over 7,400 nights at the Trump Hotel at the average daily rate," they said. "Former President Trump failed to disclose details about these payments to GSA, and he 'donated' to the Treasury only the small portion of these payments that his company determined to be profits."
Representatives for Trump and the GSA did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.
Trump was sharply criticized throughout his White House tenure for profiting off the presidency by accepting payments from foreign entities via his hotel in Washington, DC. Legal experts said accepting those payments may have violated the Constitution's foreign emoluments clause, which bars public officials from receiving cash or gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval.
The New York Times reported in September 2020 that Trump made $73 million in revenue through his foreign business dealings in the first two years of his presidency alone. Most of that income came from the Trump Organization's properties in Scotland and Ireland.
In 2019, Politico reported that US Air Force crews stayed overnight at Trump's Turnberry resort in Scotland up to 40 times since 2015. It's unclear how many of those stays took place while Trump was president, but Politico noted that the Air Force significantly increased its overnight stays in Scotland since it signed a deal with Prestwick Airport, which is located about 20 miles from the Turnberry resort.
There's also a domestic emoluments clause that prohibits the president from receiving money from the US government outside of a salary. Trump has been accused of running afoul of the domestic emoluments clause by charging the US Secret Service tens of thousands of dollars for staying at Trump properties during and after his term in office.
The Washington Post reported in September 2020 that Trump made at least $1.1 million in taxpayer dollars from the Secret Service since he took office in January 2017. In December, Trump's Mar-a-Lago golf resort in Florida charged the Secret Service almost $16,000 during a presidential Christmas trip, The Post reported.
Trump continued charging taxpayers even after he left office, according to The Post, which found that the Secret Service paid $40,000 to use a room at Mar-a-Lago between January 20 and April 30. Trump's golf club in New Jersey also charged the Secret Service more than $10,000 in May, The Post reported.