{"slug":"trump-emoluments-mar-a-lago-payments","title":"Emoluments: Foreign and Domestic Payments to Trump Properties Throughout Presidency","date":"2017-01-20","lastUpdated":"2021-01-20","description":"The U.S. Constitution's Foreign Emoluments Clause prohibits the president from receiving payments from foreign governments without congressional consent; the Domestic Emoluments Clause prohibits receipt of any emolument from the United States other than the official salary. Trump did not divest from his businesses, which received payments from foreign governments, state governments, and federal agencies throughout his four-year presidency. Documented payments included foreign governments renting hotel suites, Trump campaign committees paying for lodging at Trump properties, and the Secret Service paying to stay at Mar-a-Lago to protect the president during visits.","summary":"Trump retained ownership of his business empire throughout his presidency, rejecting the divestment that every modern president had undertaken. The Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C. — in the old Post Office Pavilion leased from the General Services Administration — was particularly notable: foreign governments and diplomatic delegations booked the hotel, and the GSA was both the landlord and a federal agency under presidential authority. Three lawsuits were filed against Trump under the Emoluments Clauses; all were ultimately dismissed without reaching the merits after Trump left office. Congressional oversight requests for information about foreign payments were resisted throughout.","category":"corruption","severity":"major","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/12/us/politics/trump-emoluments-lawsuits.html","title":"The Emoluments Lawsuits Against Trump Are Dropped After He Leaves Office","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/trump-foreign-payments/2020/10/01/how-foreign-governments-paid-trump-hotel/","title":"Foreign governments paid Trump hotel at least $750,000 since he took office","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/trump-emoluments-foreign-governments-payments","title":"Foreign payments to Trump properties during presidency","publisher":"The Associated Press"},{"url":"https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-21-186","title":"Trump International Hotel — Federal Leasing Oversight","publisher":"U.S. Government Accountability Office"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["emoluments","corruption","Trump-hotel","foreign-governments","first-term","Mar-a-Lago"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2017-01-20","title":"Trump takes office without divesting from businesses","summary":"Trump is inaugurated while retaining ownership of his business empire. He places it in a trust managed by his sons but remains the beneficial owner. Ethics officials note this does not eliminate conflicts of interest."},{"date":"2017-01-23","title":"First emoluments lawsuit filed","summary":"The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) files the first emoluments lawsuit challenging Trump's receipt of payments from foreign governments through his businesses."},{"date":"2017-06-12","title":"Maryland and D.C. file emoluments suit","summary":"The attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia file an emoluments lawsuit, arguing that Trump International Hotel is harming competing businesses and that foreign payments violate the constitutional prohibition."},{"date":"2020-10-01","title":"Washington Post documents $750,000+ in foreign government payments","summary":"The Washington Post investigation documents at least $750,000 in payments from at least 20 foreign governments to Trump properties since his inauguration — including Saudi Arabia's $270,000 lobbying payments."},{"date":"2021-01-25","title":"Emoluments lawsuits dismissed after Trump leaves office","summary":"Federal appeals courts dismiss the remaining emoluments lawsuits as moot after Trump leaves office. None of the cases reached a ruling on the merits of the constitutional claims."}],"location":{"name":"Washington, D.C.","lat":38.9072,"lng":-77.0369},"custom":{"era":"first-term","posture":"reported","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"U.S. constitutional norms against presidential self-enrichment; government contracting integrity; foreign policy actors able to seek favor through financial transactions with the president's private businesses","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"President; retained ownership of business empire receiving payments from foreign governments and domestic public agencies throughout presidency","institution":"Trump Organization / White House"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2021-01-25","summary":"Updated with lawsuit dismissals after Trump left office."}]}}