WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump lashed out Monday at critics who prompted him to move next year’s Group of Seven summit from his golf club in Florida, saying “Democrats went crazy” with criticisms that he would have violated the “phony emoluments clause” of the Constitution.
“I was willing to do this for free,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting on Monday, comparing it to his decision not to take his $400,000 presidential salary. But now, he said, “It will cost a fortune for the country.”
At one point, he lamented, “You people with this phony emoluments clause.”
He brushed aside the criticism that, even without accepting payments, hosting the summit at his Trump National Doral near Miami would have been one big promotion for his brand. “You don’t think I get enough promotion? I get more promotion than any human being that’s ever lived,” he said.
Trump reversed course Saturday on hosting the G-7 at Doral after Republicans joined Democrats in raising alarm about self-dealing and violating the emoluments clause that bans presidents from receiving gifts or payments from foreign governments. His acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, said that the president had realized that “it looks lousy” to steer business to his own property.