New records reveal foreign government spending at Trump’s Washington hotel

More than $700,000 was spent on former US President Donald Trump’s then-hotel in Washington by the governments of six foreign countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, during the first two years of his presidency, according to recent accounting documents not obtained by CNN.

The new documents are tangible evidence of the rare practice of foreign governments spending money directly with businesses owned by a sitting president, which Democrats on the House Oversight Committee say raise new questions about possible efforts to influence Trump through the companies. of while still residing in the White House.

While foreign delegations are known to have stayed at the hotel during Trump’s tenure, the documents – which include spending by China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates – offer the first detailed accounting records of these stays.

Trump’s hotel, which opened in 2016, has long been a source of criticism from Democrats, who have accused Trump of violating the Constitution’s emoluments clause, which prohibits a president from receiving “remuneration” or profit from any ” King, Prince, or foreign State,” unless Congress consents.

According to the records, the expenditure was over $250,000 from Malaysia, over $280,000 from Qatar, over $90,000 from the Saudis and over $74,000 from the United Arab Emirates.

There is no evidence that foreign spending on Trump’s hotel, which the Trump Organization sold earlier this year, directly affected US policy. However, many of the hotel stays coincided with major foreign policy events, including meetings between Trump and other foreign leaders and US efforts to resolve the 2017 Middle East blockade of Qatar.

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