TRUMP WILL CHOOSE A TRUMP PROPERTY FOR THE NEXT G-7 MEETING

…The entrance to the Trump Doral Country Club

Trump’s Doral Club is severely underperforming other resorts in the area.

It was again quite disgusting to hear our US President sounding like the President of the Miami Chamber of Commerce as he talked-up his own Doral Golf Course as the possible location for the next International G-7 meeting being held in the US.

It was even more ridiculous when the president said that his advisers had searched the nation and decided that the most suitable spot for the 2020 G7 summit just happened to be his golf club.  Yes the president actually said that he was likely to hold next years Group Seven Summit, an annual ultra-exclusive gathering of the world’s leaders of free nations, at a Trump Golf Club in the middle of very drab office parks near the Miami airport.

The fact that Trump only has those advisers that commit their loyalty to him personally, and not to their job or the country, I’m sure that that issue had nothing to the fact that the Doral location was chosen……RIGHT!

Trump made this announcement from Biarritz, the French resort town that hosted this year’s G-7 meeting.

The latest location was typical of other recent summit sites: It was very plush,  but secluded.  It was nice for photo shoots, and isolated enough to be easily sealed off for security.

That was how the past two meetings hosted by the United States have been held at the beautiful, secluded and secure, Camp David.  This is the beautiful presidential retreat in Maryland.  The other US, G-7 meeting was held on a resort island in Georgia that was easy to secure, and was done, as was the Camp David event, without a government official personally profiting, as would the president by using Trump’s own golf club.

It must be made clear that all those trips that Trump makes to his resorts for the weekends, that he profits from all those security and government personnel that are also required to be immediately available to him.  Every time Trump goes to Mar-a-Lago or his golf club in New Jersey, it costs the US government millions including the tens of thousands to use Air Force One for those trips.

To choose Doral for the next G-7 would be an unprecedented use of American power to create private revenue for the American president.  If Trump does choose Doral, he would be directing six world leaders, hundreds of hangers-on and massive amounts of money to a resort he owns personally

It must also be understood that according to the Trump Corporation’s own representatives, the Doral resort has been “severely underperforming.”  Their words, not mine.

According to the president: “They [his advisers] went to places all over the country, and they came back and they said, ‘This is where we’d like to be.’ ”  Of course, Trump added. “It’s not about me. It’s about getting the right location.”

He continued to then praise the club’s ample parking…..? 

Did our commander-in-chief really think that being at Doral would keep the world leaders from missing some of the summit’s meetings by not having to circle the venue’s parking lots....?

Since it is impossible to believe anything that comes out of the president’s mouth, it was unclear after he made the statements about Doral, had Trump had formally chosen Doral. Of course, Trump said he had not.  But right after he spoke, the White House’s official Twitter account said that he had.  The tweet said that Doral, it was: “the location of the next G-7 summit.”

As usual, the White House spokespeople have declined to comment. In addition, a spokeswoman for Miami-Dade County, where Doral is located, said the White House had not notified them of any decision.  Normally, the location of the up-coming G-7 meetings is known more than a year ahead and it is usually announced at the end of the last G-7 summit.

As he always says, Trump continues to say that he is personally losing money from being the US President.  Trump of course, said he did not believe he would make any money off the G-7 event. “I don’t want to make money,” he said. “I don’t care about making money.”  

Yeah, right.

Many of Trump’s former employee’s have said that Donald Trump is a very tight money manager.  He knows where every dime goes and what everything costs.

In addition, more than one individual that has had dealings with Donald Trump has said that he is a  fraud, a terrible businessman and has lost millions.  I would say that having over 4 corporate bankruptcies and that most of his Trump products and his buildings have either disappeared or the buildings are continuing to remove their Trump names.

The Washington Post sent the White House questions about the logistics of the summit: “Would the US government pay to rent out Trump’s resort? Would foreign governments pay?” The White House has yet to answer.

After Trump won the 2016 election, he promised: “I will be leaving my great business in total.”  Although he says he passed day-to-day control to his sons Don Jr. and Eric, Trump maintains ownership of those businesses, and has visited them dozens of times as president.

He has held summits with Chinese and Japanese leaders at his Mar-a-Lago Club, and he has stopped at Trump resorts in Ireland and Scotland on trips abroad.

Guess who pays Trump’s company for all those events?  Yes, you and I as US taxpayers.

The Constitution prohibits presidents from taking “emoluments” from foreign governments. Democrats and watchdog groups have sued Trump three times, saying he is already violating that provision, by renting hotel rooms and ballrooms to foreign states. Trump argues that the US Constitution’s provision was meant toward the ban outright bribes, not business transactions. 

But the reality is that this is the first president to have to test this constitutional provision.

So far, Trump’s lawyers have prevailed. Two of the  lawsuits have been thrown out, and another is on hold, (Remember, Trump has nominated and the Republican Senate has approved over 100 life-time Federal Judges).  With a summit at Doral, he would be inviting very large payments, from foreign countries on a broad scale.

This Doral choice has already drawn fresh condemnations

“Trump is using the office to line his own pockets at the expense of the American people and our standing in the world,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) said in a statement. “Requiring our allies to spend money at the president’s hotel to attend the G-7 would be an insult to them and a violation of our Constitution’s emoluments clause.”

The Trump Organization says it donates the profits from its transactions with foreign governments to the US Treasury, and has donated about $340,000 since 2017. However, Trump’s companies have failed to say what their total revenue from those foreign governments has been.  So, what is the basis for that $340,000 donation?

No business operation would agree to this kind of accounting procedure.  Just as they still haven’t stated what became of the millions of dollars that was raised for the Trump inauguration…..?

The Doral decision is against a campaign by some White House staffers to persuade Trump not to use his own properties for official White House events. Some aides have rightly been concerned that Trump would be using the power of the presidency to direct taxpayer money into his own pockets.  As expected in a Trump White House, this information is from former officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

In this specific case, aides have pushed Trump to consider other sites for the 2020 summit that are more remote and easier to secure. He was not convinced, he wants Doral, aides said.

“They [Doral] are severely underperforming” other resorts in the area.  This is from a tax consultant, Jessica Vachiratevanurak, who had previously been hired by Trump.  She told this to the Miami-Dade County official last year in a bid to lower the property’s tax bill.  She presented figures showing that net operating income had fallen by 69%.

The reason for the loss the tax consultant said, was Trump’s brand name, which was now closely identified with Trump’s strong, partisan brand of politics. “There is some severely negative connotation that is associated with the Trump brand,” she said.  Of course, the Trump Organization has disputed that, saying that the real problem is fear of the Zika virus and hurricanes.

Trump purchased the 643-room Doral club in 2012, taking out $125 million in loans from Deutsche Bank.  Trump made major renovations, mainly by a crew of undocumented workers that Trump shuttled from club to club.  This is according to actual workers in the crew.

In 2016, Doral was sued by a former guest, Eric Linder, who said he had been bitten multiple times by bed bugs while staying in the luxury, Jack Nicklaus Villa.  Linder alleged that the villa had a “severe bed bug infestation.” The Trump Organization denied the allegation, but it still settled the case in 2017 for a big payment.

For any hotel company, the chance to host a G-7 summit can bring an increase in revenue and a huge boost in publicity.  In 2018, when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hosted the G-7 summit at the Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu in the Charlevoix region of Quebec, the Canadian government bought out the entire hotel. Other hotels were also packed.

“It’s been a good visibility for the region, for sure, to see the name Charlevoix everywhere,” the official said. “It’s been good for the tourism performance.”

Of course, Trump will be picking the Doral Country Club in Miami for the 2020 G-7 Summit, which will be before the 2020 November election.

Copyright G. Ater 2019