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Trump Will Host 2020 G7 Summit at His Doral Resort Trump Will Host Next G7 Summit at His Doral Resort
(about 3 hours later)
WASHINGTON — President Trump will host next year’s Group of 7 meeting next June at Trump Doral, his luxury resort near Miami, the president’s acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, told reporters on Thursday. WASHINGTON — President Trump has decided to host the Group of 7 meeting next June at Trump National Doral, his luxury resort near Miami, the White House announced Thursday, a decision that prompted immediate questions about whether it was a conflict of interest for him to choose one of his own properties for a diplomatic event.
“‘It’s almost like they built this facility to host this type of event,’” Mr. Mulvaney said during a press briefing, quoting what he said an unnamed official had told him before quickly saying that the issue was not a conflict of interest. “The president has made it clear since he’s been here that he hasn’t profited since he’s been here.” In discussing the choice, Mick Mulvaney, the president’s acting chief of staff, said Mr. Trump had considered the possibility of “political criticism” for picking the resort. But the president chose it anyway because administration officials had considered hotels throughout the country, and concluded that it was “by far and away, far and away, the best physical facility for this meeting,” Mr. Mulvaney said.
The decision to host the summit at the Trump National Doral Miami Golf Club is almost sure to alarm ethics watchdogs and critics of the administration who would see an immediate conflict of interest. Hosting the Group of 7 meeting of world leaders at a Trump property could provide a windfall for the Trump Organization and raise the resort’s profile around the world. “‘It’s almost like they built this facility to host this type of event,’” Mr. Mulvaney told reporters, quoting what he said an unnamed official told him during the planning process. And he dismissed any suggestion that the president would profit from the choice.
“Donald Trump’s brand is strong as it is,” Mr. Mulvaney said when asked about possible criticism. “It’s the most recognized name in the English language.” Mr. Mulvaney said the hotel would put on the summit “at cost,” dismissing questions about whether Mr. Trump would profit from the choice. “The president has made it clear since he’s been here that he hasn’t profited since he’s been here,” he said.
The president has been publicly laying the groundwork for hosting the meeting. At the Group of 7 summit this year, held in Biarritz in the south of France, Mr. Trump suggested that his luxury golf resort, west of Miami, would be a “great place” to hold next year’s meeting. But Representative Jerrold Nadler, the New York Democrat who leads the House Judiciary Committee, said that in hosting a summit for hundreds of world leaders and their staffs, the White House had potentially violated the emoluments clauses of the Constitution, which prohibit gifts or payments from foreign government sources.
“It’s got tremendous acreage, many hundreds of acres, so we can handle whatever happens,” Mr. Trump said. “People are really liking it and plus it has buildings that have 50 to 70 units. And so each delegation can have its own building.” “The administration’s announcement that President Trump’s Doral Miami resort will be the site of the next G7 summit is among the most brazen examples yet of the president’s corruption,” Mr. Nadler said. “He is exploiting his office and making official U.S. government decisions for his personal financial gain. The emoluments clauses of the Constitution exist to prevent exactly this kind of corruption.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates. .
Holding the event at the Doral would effectively be forcing foreign government officials to pay the Trump family to stay at his resort, said Deepak Gupta, a constitutional lawyer who is already involved in two lawsuits claiming that Mr. Trump is violating the Constitution by accepting foreign government payments at his hotels.
“This is indefensible,” Mr. Gupta said. “It is as blatant as of mixing of private interests and official action that we have seen from this president.”
Mr. Mulvaney’s announcement was hardly a surprise; the president had not made it a secret that he wanted to hold the summit at his hotel. At the Group of 7 summit this year, held in Biarritz in the south of France in August, Mr. Trump suggested the resort would be a “great place” to hold next year’s meeting.
“It’s got tremendous acreage, many hundreds of acres, so we can handle whatever happens,” Mr. Trump said. “People are really liking it, and plus it has buildings that have 50 to 70 units. And so each delegation can have its own building.”
In the past Mr. Trump has been an aggressive promoter of the hotel. When the PGA Tour announced in 2016, while Mr. Trump was running for president, that it was moving its annual golf tournament — which had brought international attention to the resort for over five decades — to Mexico City, he reacted angrily.
“They’re moving it to Mexico City which, by the way, I hope they have kidnapping insurance,” Mr. Trump said at the time, in an interview on Fox.
But the resort has struggled financially since the Trump family bought it out of bankruptcy in 2012, reportedly paying $150 million for the property. More than $100 million in loans to help finance the project came from Deutsche Bank.
Financial documents obtained by The New York Times as part of tax appeals filed by the Trump Organization showed that the property lost $2.4 million in 2014. The Trump Organization has not disclosed profits in the past several years.
Still, the resort as of last year was the single biggest moneymaking asset, among the hotels, golf courses, office buildings and other properties owned by the Trump family. It generated $75.96 million in income in 2018, up from $74.76 million in 2017. But both of those figures are overall revenue, not profits.
The Group of 7 meeting will be held in the middle of June, the off-season for South Florida when the weather is hot and humid, and hosting a summit at the Doral will be complicated, local officials said, given the proximity of the resort to major area roads, including two right next to the resort that may need to be closed to ensure security.
“It is the middle of the metro area of Dade County,” said Rey Valdes, a Doral Police Department spokesman. “This will require a logistical feat. But with careful planning, I am confident we will be able to pull it off.”
Juan Carlos Bermudez, the mayor of Doral, did not have advance notification from the White House that the city had been picked for the Group of 7 summit. Mr. Bermudez said Thursday that he would leave questions surrounding potential conflicts of interest for the “Democrats and Republicans and pundits” to discuss.
“We are honored that it is being held here,” Mr. Bermudez said. “And the world will be able to see what Doral and South Florida are about.”