"I was doing services for them. People were staying in these massive hotels, these beautiful hotels," Trump said.

Donald Trump says his businesses received payments from foreign governments because he was “doing services” for them.

Trump was at a Fox News town hall on Wednesday, commenting on a recent report from Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee. The report, published on January 4, said Trump’s businesses had received at least $7.8 million in foreign payments during his presidency.

“That’s a small amount of money. You know, it sounds like a lot of money. That’s small,” Trump said at the town hall.

The former president then explained that the payments were for accommodation at his clubs and hotels.

  • dhork@lemmy.worldEnglish
    3·
    10 months ago

    I don’t see the bit in

    And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

    That says “unless it’s a business transaction, that’s just fine”…

    • Cethin@lemmy.zipEnglish
      2·
      10 months ago

      Sure, I don’t totally disagree, but it should be required that they dissolve any holdings in any company, or that interpretation is just “they can’t run or have an interest in any business.” Even just holding a stock in a company, especially one paying dividends, would break that in the most strict interpretation.

      The point is this isn’t the hill to die on. This is minor compared to everything else he’s done.