WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump received millions of dollars from foreign governments during his presidency, according to newly release documents from Democrats on the House Oversight Committee.
Over 20 foreign governments made the payments to Trump’s businesses during two of the four years he was in office. The report was first made public by The New York Times and CNN.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, said payments came from “some of the world’s most unsavory regimes”. According to the report, a bulk of the money came from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, India and Afghanistan.
China spent the most money, paying $5.5 million to Trump to stay at his Trump Tower penthouse in New York.
“This is a limited window on a far-broader universe of foreign government spending that took place,” Raskin told reporters Thursday on Capitol Hill.
Raskin said Trump violated the Constitution’s foreign emoluments clause, which prohibits the president from accepting money payments or gifts “‘of any kind whatever’ from foreign governments and monarchs unless he obtains ‘the Consent of the Congress’ to do so.”
“By elevating his personal financial interests and the policy priorities of corrupt foreign powers over the American public interest, former President Trump violated both the clear commands of the Constitution and the careful precedent set and observed by every previous commander in chief,” Raskin wrote.
The report goes on to say that Saudi Arabia likely paid Trump-owned businesses at least $615,422 during Trump’s first term in office. The foreign governments spent money on Trump hotels located in hotels in Washington, D.C., Las Vegas and New York City during Trump’s first term.
The report stated “these countries spent — often lavishly — on apartments and hotel stays at Donald Trump’s properties — personally enriching President Trump while he made foreign policy decisions connected to their policy agendas with far-reaching ramifications for the United States.”
The Trump campaign did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
