Donald Trump Received Millions of Dollars From China, Other Countries While US President
While Republicans struggle to prove Joe Biden profited from other countries as president, a new House Oversight Committee report showed Donald Trump did. The report showed the former POTUS raking in millions of dollars via his company, the Trump Organization, from countries like China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, and many more.
The bombshell report from Democratic members of the House Oversight Committee showed that foreign governments paid around $7.8 million to various Trump businesses and properties. The largest of these payments came from China, followed by Saudi Arabia.
"We know about only some of the payments that passed into former President Trump's hands during just two years of his presidency, from just 20 of the more than 190 nations in the world, through just four of his more than 500 businesses," said Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the committee's top Democrat. The introduction in the report read, "White House for Sale."
This is in violation of the Constitution's Emoluments Clause, which bars elected office-holders, including presidents, from accepting gifts, payments, and other emoluments from foreign governments and dignitaries without the consent of Congress. This is because these gifts and payments could be used to influence policy and governance, according to Rolling Stone.
During the entirety of his presidency, Donald Trump refused to divest from the Trump Organization. When he was elected, Trump instead handed control of his company not to an independent entity, but to his two adult sons, Eric and Donald Trump Jr.
How Much Did China Spend on Donald Trump and Trump Organization Businesses?
China was by far the largest spender in Trump's businesses while he was still president, with the Chinese government spending $5,572,548 in various Trump businesses, including stays at the Trump Tower in New York and the Trump International Hotels in Washington DC and Las Vegas, Nevada.
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By contrast, the country that had the second highest spending at Trump businesses while he was president was Saudi Arabia, and its government only spent $615,422.
Collectively, these Chinese payments to Trump came from the Chinese Embassy to the US, a state-owned Chinese bank accused by the US Justice Department of helping North Korea evade sanctions, and a state-owned Chinese air transit company, according to CNN.
Foreign businesses rarely spend money directly with businesses owned by a sitting president. However, this was not the case during the Trump presidency as foreign governments blatantly spent money on the then-president's businesses in an alleged effort to influence him.
Foreign Countries Spent Money Lavishly on Trump Organization Businesses During Donald Trump Presidency
According to The Guardian, the report showed that several countries would spend "often lavishly" on Donald Trump's various businesses. These lavish spending from the foreign actors are "personally enriching President Trump while he made foreign policy decisions connected to their policy agendas with far-reaching ramifications for the United States."
"The limited records the committee obtained show that while Donald Trump was in office, he received more than $5.5m from the Chinese government and Chinese state-owned enterprises, as well as millions more from 19 other foreign governments including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Malaysia, through just four of the more than 500 entities he owned," Said Rep. Raskin regarding the report.
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Rick Martin
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