Donald J. Trump's companies received at least $7.8 million from 20 foreign governments during his presidency. That's according to new documents released Thursday by House Democrats that show how much he received from transactions abroad during his time in the White House, the majority of them from China.
The transactions, detailed in a 156-page report titled “White House For Sale” prepared by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, provide concrete evidence that the former president engaged in behavior that that Republicans in the House of Representatives have so far failed to demonstrate that President Biden has done everything possible to initiate impeachment proceedings against him.
Using documents produced as part of a court case, the report details how foreign governments and the entities they control, including a top U.S. adversary, interacted with Trump companies during his term as president. They paid millions to the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC; Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas; Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York; and Trump World Tower at 845 United Nations Plaza in New York.
The Constitution prohibits federal officials from accepting money, payments, or gifts “of any kind” from foreign governments and monarchs unless they receive “the consent of Congress.” The report notes that Mr. Trump never went to Congress to seek approval.
House Democrats highlighted the transactions on Thursday as a counterweight to Republicans' impeachment inquiry into Mr. Biden, which sought to link him to international business deals made by his son Hunter Biden before his father became president in order to investigate corruption or influence peddling To prove peddling. So far, they have not been able to prove that President Biden was enriched in any way by any of these transactions.
“By putting his personal financial interests and the political priorities of corrupt foreign powers ahead of the American public interest, former President Trump violated both the clear commandments of the Constitution and the careful precedents established and followed by every previous commander in chief.” Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee, wrote in a foreword to the report.
Among countries promoting Mr. Trump's properties, China made the largest total payment to his business interests at $5.5 million, the report said. These payments included millions of dollars from the Chinese Embassy in the United States, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Hainan Airlines Holding Company.
Saudi Arabia was the second largest donor, spending more than $615,000 on the Trump World Tower and the Trump International Hotel.
Eric Trump, the former president's son, has long insisted that foreign interests had no influence on his father's presidency and that any profits the company made from the hotel stays were returned to the federal government through a voluntary annual payment to the Treasury Department became.
But Mr. Raskin noted Thursday that donating profits to the Treasury does not meet the constitutional requirements placed on a president.
On Thursday, Eric Trump said in an email that the Chinese bank mentioned in the report signed a 20-year lease for Trump Tower in 2008, nearly a decade before his father took office. And he argued that it was clear that the former president did not let his personal business incentives dictate his official actions.
“This narrative is crazy,” Eric Trump said of the Democrats’ report. He added that “there is no president in the history of the United States who has been tougher on China than Donald Trump,” citing the significant tariffs the former president imposed on the country's goods and services. He also said that the Trump Organization “does not have the ability or viability to prevent anyone from booking through third parties” at the hotel.
House Republicans also dismissed the revelations, arguing that there was nothing wrong with Mr. Trump receiving income from foreign governments while he was president, but that Mr. Biden's family business was corrupt.
“Former President Trump has legitimate businesses, but the Bidens do not,” Rep. James R. Comer, Republican of Kentucky and chairman of the oversight panel, said in a statement Thursday. He claimed the Bidens earned more than three times as much, according to new records Mr. Trump obtained from foreign governments “by exploiting the Biden name,” adding: “No goods or services were sold.” Services provided other than access to Joe Biden and the Biden Network.”
The Democrats' report recognizes its own limitations. Democrats fought aggressively in years of legal battles to gain access to just a portion of Mr. Trump's business records. After winning court rulings, Mr. Trump's longtime accounting firm Mazars USA, which cut ties with him and his family business, began releasing documents related to his financial dealings in 2022.
The development came after Mazars said it could no longer stand behind a decade of financial statements it prepared for the Trump Organization.
But when Republicans gained control of Congress, they abandoned efforts to force Mazars to continue producing documents about Mr. Trump's business dealings.
Mr. Comer made clear that he had stopped any investigation into the former president's financial dealings, focusing instead on the question of whether Mr. Biden and members of his family were involved in an influence-peddling scheme.
Still, Democrats say they obtained important material before the investigation was closed.
“Crucially, even this portion of the documents reveals a staggering web of millions of dollars in payments made directly to Trump-owned companies by foreign governments and their agents while President Trump was in the White House,” the report said . “These payments occurred while these administrations were promoting specific foreign policy goals with the Trump administration and, at times, even with President Trump himself, and demanding specific actions from the United States to advance their own national policy goals.”
The report is the result of a multi-year investigation into how Mr. Trump received payments from foreign-controlled companies during his time in office. The investigation began in 2016 under the direction of Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Democrat of Maryland, who died in 2019.
It noted that Mr. Trump has sometimes bragged about the wealth foreign governments have given him, including at a campaign rally in 2015 when he suggested that his personal financial incentives could influence his dealings with another government.
“Saudi Arabia, I get along well with everyone,” he is quoted as saying in the report. “They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I not supposed to like her? I really like her!”
The report urges Congress to consider adopting new disclosure rules to help the Legislature obtain information for proper oversight. It also recommends a more formal process for presidents and other officials to seek permission from Congress if they wish to receive and retain assets from other countries.