$7.8 million: this is the amount of foreign payments that Donald Trump would have received from foreign officials from around twenty countries, while he was president, via his real estate properties in the Trump Organization. In a vitriolic parliamentary report, entitled “White House for sale”, the elected Democrats of the House of Representatives accuse the billionaire of having received payments from China, Saudi Arabia, India, Turkey, Qatar and the Democratic Republic of Congo via payments of rent and invoices between 2017 and 2018, concerning four properties out of the 500 entities and companies of Donald Trump and his family group.
If these accusations are confirmed, they would mean a violation, by the former tenant of the White House (2017-2021), of the American Constitution, a clause of which prohibits any official from receiving “foreign emoluments” – gifts or money – other governments without the agreement of Congress.
The elected Democrats go further, accusing Donald Trump of having seen part of this money “pass through (his) hands”. The four properties affected are the offices and apartments of Trump Tower, an iconic skyscraper on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, and hotel or residential properties in New York, Washington and Las Vegas.
$5.5 million from China
“The report describes how foreign governments and institutions under their control – including a high-level US adversary – interacted with Trump’s companies while he was president,” details the New York Times. The largest spending would come from China, at $5.5 million. Chinese state-owned bank ICBC, for example, rented office space at Trump Tower. “The Chinese Embassy in the United States” as well as “the Hainan Airlines Holding Company” also benefited from the services of the Trump Organization, according to the New York daily.
Asked about this report by Democratic parliamentarians during an ordinary press briefing, a spokesperson for Chinese diplomacy, Wang Wenbin, declared that he had “no information on this subject”, adding: “I advise the American politicians concerned not to attack China at any opportunity. Saudi Arabia also paid at least $615,422 in emoluments to the former president’s companies while he was in office. Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia have also contributed money to Donald Trump’s estate, through just four of the more than 500 properties owned, details The Guardian.
The 77-year-old businessman is according to polls the favorite for the Republican primaries for the American presidential election, which start on January 15. But the billionaire, criminally charged four times, faces several trials this year. In its report, the parliamentary committee that investigated Trump asks Congress to consider more transparency measures to allow the legislative branch appropriate oversight of elected officials, according to the New York Times.