6 foreign nations spent $750K at Trump Hotel
The House Oversight and Reform Committee on Monday said representatives from six foreign governments spent $750,000 at Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., at the same time they were seeking to influence U.S. policy during the Trump presidency.
The chairwoman of the committee, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), released a batch of documents showing that officials from Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey and China spent up to $10,000 per night for “lavish rooms” at the Trump hotel.
“These documents sharply call into question the extent to which President Trump was guided by his personal financial interest while in office rather than the best interests of the American people,” Maloney said in a Monday statement.
The House committee subpoenaed the documents from international financial accounting firm Mazars USA, which once worked extensively with Trump but has since cut ties.
The committee launched a probe in 2019 looking into possible conflicts of interest, inaccurate financial disclosures and violations of emoluments clauses during Trump’s presidency.
The committee reached an agreement in September to obtain Trump’s financial documents after a lengthy legal battle with the former president.
According to the newly released documents, former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak visited Trump International Hotel in September 2017 amid a Department of Justice investigation into allegations Razak and his family looted a Malaysian wealth fund and laundered money through U.S. financial institutions.
Razak spent at least $259,724 from Sept. 7 to Sept. 15 that year, according to the House Oversight and Reform committee, and during the visit was praised by Trump. Razak was convicted of corruption charges in Malaysia in 2020.
Representatives from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which both enjoyed close ties to the Trump administration, spent at least $164,929 from late 2017 to mid-2018, according to the documents from the committee.
In April 2018, Qatari government officials spent more than $300,000 at the Trump hotel, documents show. Trump reportedly praised leaders from Qatar during the visit.
Officials from Turkey and China also spent thousands of dollars during the Trump presidency at the hotel when they traveled to the U.S. on political business.
The House committee said it would release more records related to the Trump hotel spending by the end of November.
“These documents, which the committee continues to obtain from Mazars, will inform our legislative efforts to ensure that future presidents do not abuse their position of power for personal gain,” Maloney said in her statement.