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The timing of last week’s revelations about Donald Trump and foreign money couldn’t have been much worse for the Republican Party. GOP officials are trying — and failing — to find evidence of President Joe Biden receiving funds from abroad before he arrived in the White House. To date, the party has uncovered literally nothing, though the desperate search continues.
But it was against this backdrop that Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a devastating 156-page report called “White House For Sale.” Relying on documents from Trump’s former accounting firm, congressional researchers determined that the Republican’s businesses received "at least" $7.8 million from 20 foreign governments — over a two year period — while Trump was in the White House, despite the prohibitions in the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
As an NBC News report added, China was “the leading spender, paying more than $5.5 million to Trump-owned properties.”
The former president hasn’t made much of an effort to challenge the findings, which made it all the more notable when the subject came up during his latest town-hall event on Fox News. NBC News took note of the relevant exchange:
Asked whether he would divest from his businesses during a second term, Trump deflected. Last week, a report released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee alleged that Trump received at least $7.8 million in payments from foreign governments during two of his four years in the White House. In a winding reply to the questions about the report, however, Trump remarked that George Washington had been wealthy when he was president and that $8 million was “a small amount of money.”
Fox’s Bret Baier highlighted both the House Democrats’ findings and the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, which should’ve prohibited Trump from receiving money from foreign governments during his time in office. It was at that point when the anchor asked the likely GOP nominee, “Would you pledge to divest from your business in the second term as other presidents have done?”
Instead of answering the question directly, the former president replied, “I own hotels all over the place. I don’t get free money. Somebody rents a hotel room, etc., etc.”
After an odd and unnecessary reference to George Washington — who was never accused of taking money from foreign governments — Trump added, “I was doing services for that. People were staying in these massive hotels, these beautiful hotels, because I have the best hotels. I have the best clubs. I have the best clubs. I have great stuff. And they stay there, and they pay. I don’t get $8 million for doing nothing....”
Or put another way, the Republican effectively confirmed everything House Democrats alleged in their report. Trump’s defense, evidently, is that he believes it’s fine that he took millions of dollars from foreign governments during his presidency because he also provided services in exchange for the money.
That’s no small admission. As regular readers know, the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution prohibits U.S. officials from receiving payments from foreign governments. There is no accompanying asterisk allowing officials from receiving payments from foreign governments in exchange for services.
Trump has had plenty of time to come up with some kind of defense for his willingness to ignore the legal prohibition. Apparently, the best the Republican can come up with is a confession rooted in indifference.