Emoluments Violations: Profiting from Foreign and Domestic Governments While President

Overview

The U.S. Constitution contains two emoluments clauses specifically designed to prevent a president from using the office for personal financial gain:

• The Foreign Emoluments Clause (Article I, Section 9) prohibits any person holding federal office from accepting "any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state" without congressional consent.
• The Domestic Emoluments Clause (Article II, Section 1) prohibits the president from receiving any emolument from the federal government or any individual state beyond the presidential salary.

For the first time in modern presidential history, Trump refused to divest from his businesses upon taking office, placing them in a trust managed by his sons that he could access at any time. Legal and ethics experts across the political spectrum called the arrangement an inadequate shield against the constitutional prohibitions.

The Scope of the Problem

From day one, Trump's D.C. hotel — leased from the U.S. General Services Administration, a federal agency — became the de facto gathering place for foreign diplomats seeking to curry favor with the administration. State Department cables obtained through FOIA requests showed American diplomats being encouraged to stay at Trump properties while abroad. The Secret Service spent millions protecting Trump at his own properties — money that went directly into Trump's business accounts.

CREW documented over 3,400 specific conflicts of interest during Trump's presidency. Foreign governments known to have paid Trump-owned businesses include Saudi Arabia, China, Kuwait, Malaysia, the Philippines, India, and Turkey — all countries with active policy relationships with the United States during that period.

The G7 Doral Episode

The most brazen episode occurred in October 2019, when Trump's acting chief of staff announced that the 2020 G7 summit would be held at Trump's Doral golf resort in Florida — a property that had been losing revenue after controversies following Trump's election. The plan would have required foreign heads of state and their entourages to pay for rooms, meals, and services at a Trump-owned business. After bipartisan condemnation, Trump reversed course, saying he would not be "doing it to save your favorite President [himself] headaches."

Legal Outcomes

Courts dismissed the three most prominent emoluments lawsuits on procedural and standing grounds, meaning no court ever reached the merits of whether Trump's conduct violated the Constitution. The constitutional violations were never formally adjudicated.