G7 backflip: Trump says his Florida resort will no longer host summit

Authored by axios.com and submitted by noscreamattheend

Why it matters: Throughout his presidency, Trump has faced allegations that he is using his office to enrich his own business.

The Trump National Doral Miami resort has struggled financially since the president took office, with its net operating income falling 69% over the past two years.

Trump claimed he wouldn't "profit" from the G7, but as journalist Yashar Ali points out, the president doesn't acknowledge how a "major global event like the G7 would give his resort lots of free advertising and would likely drive up business."

The big picture: Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said on Thursday that the Trump National Doral Miami resort would be hosting next year's G7 summit amid an impeachment inquiry sparked by allegations that Trump pressured the Ukrainian government to investigate Joe Biden over conflicts of interest.

The House Judiciary Committee had been looking into the president's plans to host the summit at Doral for some time as part of its ongoing investigations of Trump.

What they're saying: The Doral decision was met with criticism from some Republicans, including Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), who told the Washington Post the G7 decision was "politically insensitive." "They should have known what the kickback is going to be on this, that politically he’s doing it for his own benefit," he said.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), who's criticized Trump for his Syria policy and allegations concerning the president and Ukraine, called the G7 decision "a very unusual site selection," per Reuters.

After the G7 announcement, the conservative anti-Trump group Republicans for the Rule of Law "released an ad accusing Trump of using his office for personal enrichment," Reuters notes.

Go deeper: Trump made at least $434 million from his business in 2018

Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.

Ya_No on October 20th, 2019 at 02:43 UTC »

I’m willing to bet someone told him that congress would have a good enough excuse to demand the financials and didn’t want them to see it

FreshestRice on October 20th, 2019 at 02:10 UTC »

“Crazed and Irrational Hostility”, he says in his great and unmatched wisdom

noscreamattheend on October 20th, 2019 at 02:06 UTC »

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1185735579327193093

....Therefore, based on both Media & Democrat Crazed and Irrational Hostility, we will no longer consider Trump National Doral, Miami, as the Host Site for the G-7 in 2020. We will begin the search for another site, including the possibility of Camp David, immediately. Thank you!

I wanna laugh but I kinda think it was just a smokescreen all along knowing that they didn't even send Secret Service to check Doral out