Trump Again Defends Doral Selection, Dismissing Constitution’s ‘Phony Emoluments Clause’

WASHINGTON — President Trump may have reversed his decision to host world leaders at one of his own properties during next year’s Group of 7 summit at the urging of his fellow Republicans, but he hasn’t finished defending his right to do it in the first place.

Mr. Trump on Monday dismissed what he called the “phony emoluments clause” of the Constitution that prohibits a president from illegally profiting from his business while in office and was cited by critics of his choice of Trump National Doral Miami for the summit. He also accused President Barack Obama of trying to profit off the presidency.

“Doral was a very simple situation,” the president told reporters at the White House. “I own a property in Florida. I was going to do it at no cost or give it free if I got a ruling, because there is a question as to whether or not you’re allowed to give it, because it’s like a contribution to a country.”

Mr. Trump said Democrats had gone “crazy” over the prospect of hosting an international summit at a Trump property, when in fact it was private criticism from Republicans that ultimately forced his rare reversal. And he continued to talk up the resort, with its “massive meeting rooms” and “best location” and said that “it would have been the greatest G-7 ever.”

Mr. Trump then toggled to what he believes inoculates him against charges of trying to profit from his presidency: that he doesn’t take a salary.

“They actually say that George Washington may have been the only other president to do” that, he said. “See whether or not all of the other of your favorites gave up their salary.”

In fact both Herbert Hoover and John F. Kennedy also donated their salaries while they were president.

Mr. Trump claimed that when he was elected, he put “all the stuff in trusts,” referring to the family business, the Trump Organization, and has left running the business to his two sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. In fact, Mr. Trump remains closely tied to his real estate empire, and has resisted calls to sell his assets and put the proceeds in a blind trust, arguing that he is under no legal obligation to do so.

Mr. Trump also repeated a claim that he was losing, not earning, money from his presidency, and estimated that it had cost him between $2 and $5 billion dollars to enter politics.

“Doral was setting records when I bought it,” he said. “Then what happened? I announce I’m going to run for office, right? And I say, We’ve got to build a wall, we’ve got to have borders, we’ve got to have this, we’ve got to have that. All of a sudden, some people didn’t like it.”

Mr. Trump said George Washington had continued to run a business while he was president and used two desks, one for business and one for the presidency in dismissing “this phony emoluments clause.” He attacked Mr. Obama for a multiyear deal with Netflix and a book deal, both of which were announced after he left office.

“Obama made a deal for a book. Is that running a business?” Mr. Trump said. “I’m sure he didn’t even discuss it while he was president. He has a deal with Netflix. When did they start talking about that?”

Mr. Obama’s contracts with a domestic publisher and movie studio, however, are not directly comparable to taking money from foreign governments.

Seated in the Cabinet Room, Mr. Trump also addressed another of his recent announcements that has been criticized by Republicans — the pullback of American troops in Syria that set the stage for Turkey’s invasion of land controlled by the Kurds, who are an American ally.

“We never agreed to protect the Kurds,” Mr. Trump said. “We never agreed to protect the Kurds for the rest of their lives.”

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