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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDavid Corn: Once Again, the Kuwaiti Government Puts Money Right into Trump's Pocket
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2019/01/donald-trump-hotel-kuwait-government-emoluments/
Once Again, the Kuwaiti Government Puts Money Right into Trumps Pocket
Who cares what the Constitution says?
David CornJanuary 30, 2019 6:21 PM
Its not news. But it still worth headlines: President Donald Trump collects money directly from foreign governments. He does this when overseas governments (and foreign corporations and persons) spend money at his hotels. These properties are owned by him through the the Trump Organization. (When he became president, he turned the business over to his kids, but retained ownership.) So if the Saudi Crown Prince hits New York City with his oversized entourage and obtains a block of rooms at a high-end Trump hotel, the money goes straight into the coffers of Trumps family business. And this is exactly what happened last year. (That particular transaction was substantial enough to be responsible for a 13 percent uptick in the hotels business.)
Trumps fancy hotel in Washington, DC, has been the recipient of revenue from governments, people, and parties with interests before the US government and motive to curry favor with Trump. One such entity: the government of Kuwait. As the below invitation shows (at link), the Gulf State is holding its independence anniversary shindig at the Trump International Hotel next month. This will mark the third year in a row that the Kuwaitis have decided to grace Trumps hotel with their presence and petro-dollars.
These transactions are arguably violations of the Constitutions emoluments clause, which prohibit a president from accepting any sort of gift from an overseas sourcean anti-bribery measure that the Founding Fathers obviously believed necessary. A lawsuit claiming Trump has violated this part of the Constitution has been working its way through the courts, and oral arguments for the case are scheduled for March. The suit, which was filed by the attorneys general for Maryland and Washington, DC, cites the annual Kuwaiti bash as one of several violations of the emoluments clause.
It seems like Trump and the Kuwaitis dont mind providing more potential evidence.
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David Corn: Once Again, the Kuwaiti Government Puts Money Right into Trump's Pocket (Original Post)
babylonsister
Jan 2019
OP
I'd hope the House has plans to take up this issue as well ... it's a damn travesty (nt)
mr_lebowski
Jan 2019
#2
These are just the public actions. How many empty rooms are Saudis, Kuwatis etc renting?
TeamPooka
Jan 2019
#3
MyOwnPeace
(16,925 posts)1. Truly one of the things
our new House of Representatives must and will investigate.
Such insanity as to allow this is an outrage!
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)2. I'd hope the House has plans to take up this issue as well ... it's a damn travesty (nt)
TeamPooka
(24,221 posts)3. These are just the public actions. How many empty rooms are Saudis, Kuwatis etc renting?
I'll bet there are empty rooms being paid for to funnel the trumps cash too.
uponit7771
(90,335 posts)4. Democrats can impeach Donald Trump on emoluments clause violations right now