Trump's push to hold the G7 to Trump Doral, explained



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President Donald Trump wants to hold the 2020 G7 Global Leaders' Meeting in Trump Doral, Florida, a private club he owns and continues to benefit from – an initiative that may still illustrate the worst example of how Trump normalizes corruption.

Having the G7 at Doral would be tantamount to a "free and giant international promotion" of Trump's business, said Jordan Libowitz, director of communications for the association "Citizens for Accountability and Ethics in Washington (CREW ), "in an interview with Vox.

Trump first raised the idea of ​​organizing next year's meeting at his golf resort based in Doral, Florida, during a bilateral meeting with the Chancellor. German Angela Merkel Monday, last day of this year's G7 in France, declaring about Trump Doral I found nothing that could compete with her, especially when we look at the location right next to the "Airport" in Miami.

Trump's comments were a bit frowned upon and a few hours later, at the press conference after the G7 summit, Hallie Jackson of the NBC channel asked him to respond to people who feared that he was going to be in trouble. he does not take advantage of the presidency. He responded by plugging Trump Doral.

"With Doral, we have a series of beautiful buildings, called bungalows, which can each hold 50 to 70 luxurious rooms, with magnificent views. We have incredible conference rooms, incredible restaurants. It's so natural, said Trump, before adding, doubtful, in his opinion, "I'm not going to make money."

Shortly after the end of the press conference, the White House Twitter account appeared to formalize the announcement in a tweet containing a video of Trump's comments promoting Doral.

Libowitz told Vox that previous presidents could "be separated from their assets, so that the American people can never doubt that it was making decisions in the best interest of the American people, as opposed to best interest of its net result ". But Trump is "He's openly using US foreign policy to support a struggling company." (The Washington Post reported earlier this year that Doral's net operating profit had dropped nearly 70% since 2015, a decline attributed by experts to Trump brand toxicity.)

"For many presidents, the mere appearance of a conflict of interest would be as serious as a conflict of interest, because the way in which they are perceived by the American people was important. them, "added Libowitz. "With Trump, it's first and foremost the Trump affair. And this opens it to all sorts of potential corruption. "

Standards will not limit Trump, and so far the courts have not

Trump's efforts to have the next G7 meeting in a place where the US government and international governments would be forced to do business with his company are perhaps the most striking illustration of how he does not just make fun of tradition and ethical standards, but also the constitutional clause on emoluments, a little used part of the Constitution to guard against the bribery of the president by foreign interests.

This decision may not be surprising, given Trump's willingness to break decades of precedent by refusing to divest himself of his business interests when he takes office. And Trump has already used the appearance of diplomacy to promote his businesses. He welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to his hotel in Mar-a-Lago and also hosted Japanese President Abe Shinzo several times. Although these summits have served as an example of corruption, hosting the G7 in a complex that Trump described in federal revelations as one of his biggest revenue generators would do a little more things.

And it's not like there are no other sites in the US that the President could use to host the G7 next year. For example, the US government's Camp David in Maryland hosted the G8 in 2012. But what Camp David does not provide is a lucrative opportunity for Trump.

Of course, Trump has stopped promoting his properties since taking office. When he's not on one of his golf courses, he dines at the Trump International Hotel. His adult sons, who apparently run the family business while he is in power, have more or less given up claiming that there is an important firewall between the private family business and the administration. And the legal challenges of forcing Trump to part with his company have been unsuccessful until now.

After Trump's comments about Doral, Ron Wyden (D-OR), a member of the Senate's Senate Finance Committee, released a declaration say that "[u]In any case, the G7 should not be held in the seaside resort of Trump, which would be one of the most egregious examples of corruption and self-trafficking in a presidency filled with them. "

"Trump uses the office to cover his pockets at the expense of the American people, it's our position in the world," Wyden added. "To ask our allies to spend money at the President's Hotel would be an insult to them and a violation of the Constitution's clause on emoluments."

But in a sign of the little that Democrats such as Wyden can do now about Trump's corruption, his statement then calls the Treasury Department – led by Trump Loyalist Steve Mnuchin – to "not allow that this happens ". Mnuchin, However, Trump has allowed every turn, and there is no reason to believe that it changes suddenly now.

Libowitz acknowledged this reality during his interview with Vox.

"The president has a ton of power, and the president has a ton of power to make money with the presidency," he said. "Previous presidents do not have respect for the position, and that was the norm."

But he also warned against normalizing Trump's behavior on this front.

"I would simply say that it is dangerous to eliminate corruption as a feature of the system on which nothing can be done," he said. "In some cases, new laws may be needed to prevent such things from happening in the future."

In the present, however, Trump seems to be moving forward with the project to turn one of the world's most prestigious diplomatic events into commercial information for his family business.


The new advance quickly. To stay up to date, follow Aaron Rupar on Twitter, and read more Political and political coverage of Vox.

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