Zekelman, in sworn testimony to the Federal Election Commission, acknowledged that he “discussed Wheatland Tube’s potential contributions to American First” with one of his executives.īut he also claimed that he did not know that federal campaign finance rules prohibited him from participating in the discussions. A spokeswoman for America First Action did not respond to a request for comment. Zekelman who signed the settlement, declined to comment.
It is a nightmare scenario for America elections.” “That has been a concern for American democracy for as long as our country has existed. complaint in 2019, based on the article in The Times. Trump had promised to donate his US$400,000 salary during the campaign.“Here you have a foreign business executive trying to buy influence through spending on American elections,” said Adav Noti, a vice president at the Campaign Legal Center, which filed the F.E.C. The trust was created with the purpose to hold assets for Trump's "exclusive benefit," according to business records, and can revoke the authority of the trustees at any time.Įarlier this week, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Trump would also donate his personal presidential salary to as-yet-undetermined charitable causes at the end of the year. and Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization. Trump Revocable Trust, whose trustees are Donald Jr. The president placed his business holdings in a trust called the Donald J. In addition to announcing the plan to donate hotel profits from foreign governments, Trump in January also resigned his positions in hundreds of business entities and turned over operation of his business empire to his two sons, Donald Jr. A spokeswoman for Dillon's law firm, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, referred questions to the Trump Organization. The US Treasury Department did not respond to questions for this report regarding how the donations would be processed and communications with the Trump Organization. While Trump's critics and some ethics experts have said any foreign government business at a Trump property potentially runs afoul of the Constitution, Trump attorneys have maintained that the Emoluments Clause does not prohibit payments in exchange for goods or services provided at fair market value. officials from accepting gifts or titles from foreign states without congressional approval. The Constitution's Emoluments Clause prohibits U.S. "The concept of profit is well understood in the hospitality industry, as are the pertinent accounting rules, for the Trump Organization to comply with the President's voluntary directive," she said. While Miller did not answer a request to describe how the company determines which payments come from foreign government patrons, she said in calculating profits the Trump Organization will "apply the accounting and financial reporting guidance provided for in the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry." "This way, it is the American people who will profit." "President-elect Trump has decided, and we are announcing today, that he is going to voluntarily donate all profits from foreign government payments made to his hotel to the United States Treasury," Dillon said at the time. Sheri Dillon, an attorney representing Trump, said at a January 11 news conference that the then president-elect had directed that profits from foreign government hotel business would be donated to the Treasury because "he wants to do more than what the Constitution requires."
While foreign patronage at Trump properties in recent months has included the Kuwait Embassy's celebration of Kuwait National Day at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, in February, it is unknown how much business the Trump Organization has conducted from other national governments at its properties in the US and abroad. The Trump Organization also would not provide the dollar amount of profits it has accrued from foreign governments during Trump's presidency so far. Trump and his attorneys have repeatedly stated that while they do not believe he is required to do so, he was taking the steps to put to rest any concerns about potential conflicts of interest between his leadership of the federal government and his family's vast business empire. "The donation will be made on an annual basis after the end of each calendar year," Miller said. Miller would not provide a copy of the policy or otherwise explain how Trump hotels and similar businesses will separate profits from foreign governments' rentals of rooms and suites, conference rooms and banquet facilities, or payments for other services at its hotels, and deliver the money to the Treasury as the president and his lawyers spelled out in a nationally televised January news conference.