Trump denies ‘nasty rumor’ of bedbugs at Doral after suggesting resort might host G-7

President Trump on Tuesday denied there were bedbugs at his Doral golf resort in Miami after he suggested holding next year’s Group of Seven (G-7) summit there.

The president accused “Radical Left Democrats” of spreading a “false and nasty rumor” that the property had a bedbug problem.

No bedbugs at Doral. The Radical Left Democrats, upon hearing that the perfectly located (for the next G-7) Doral National MIAMI was under consideration for the next G-7, spread that false and nasty rumor. Not nice!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2019

Trump’s critics began mocking the idea on social media using #TrumpBedBugs, which began trending on Twitter on Monday. 

The Doral property settled a lawsuit in 2017 with a former guest who alleged in July 2016 he had been bitten by bedbugs during his stay a few months earlier, The Miami Herald reported. The guest claimed the villa where he stayed had a “severe bed bug infestation.”

{mosads}Trump signaled Monday that the Doral resort is the front-runner to host next year’s G-7 summit. He boasted about the property extensively during a press conference before leaving this year’s summit in France, arguing the Doral resort’s proximity to Miami makes it a desirable location.

“With Doral, we have a series of magnificent buildings, we call them bungalows. They each hold from 50 to 70 — very luxurious rooms with magnificent views,” Trump said on Monday. “We have incredible conference rooms, incredible restaurants. It’s like — it’s like such a natural — we wouldn’t even have to do the work that they did here.”

The president’s desire to hold a gathering of the most prominent world leaders at one of his family’s properties alarmed Democrats and watchdogs, who said it would be an attempt to enrich the Trump business and constitute a violation of federal ethics laws.

The New York Times said Monday it found evidence of bedbugs in its newsroom, and the newspaper’s columnist Bret Stephens sparked additional tweets about the critters when he emailed a reader who used Twitter to compare him to bedbugs. Those stories likely fueled the prominence of bedbugs on social media.