NEWSDonald Trump Received Over $7 Million From Foreign Governments During His Presidency, House Oversight Committee Alleges
Former President Donald Trump received at least $7.8 million in payments from foreign governments during his time in the White House, according to a report released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee.
The payments were made over a two-year period and came from 20 different foreign governments.
Donald Trump allegedly received $7.8 million from foreign governments.
The report, first published by The New York Times and CNN, detailed the payments made to Trump's businesses while he was in office. Rep. Jamie Raskin, the ranking member of the Oversight Committee, described the money as coming from "some of the world's most unsavory regimes."
China was the leading spender, paying more than $5.5 million to Trump-owned properties. Other countries that made payments included Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, India and Afghanistan.
"This is a limited window on a far-broader universe of foreign government spending that took place," Raskin said during a press conference on Capitol Hill.
Donald Trump currently faces 91 criminal charges.
Raskin said in the report that the information reveals Trump violated the Constitution's foreign emoluments clause, which he said prohibits the president from accepting money payments or gifts "'of any kind whatever' from foreign governments and monarchs unless he obtains 'the Consent of the Congress' to do so."
"Yet Donald Trump, while holding the office of president, used his business entities to pocket millions of dollars from foreign states and royalty and never once went to Congress to seek its consent," Raskin wrote.
- Donald Trump Reportedly Raking In Thousands Of Dollars In Pension Payments After Boasting About Donating Salary During Presidency
- 'Gloves Are Off': Donald Trump Brags About Record Fundraising Numbers for 2024 Republican Primary
- Former President Donald Trump Paid Little To No Federal Taxes During White House Tenure, Released Returns Show
Saudi Arabia and its royal family spent at least $615,400 at Trump properties.
Documents provided to the committee showed Saudi Arabia and its royal family spent at least $615,400 at Trump properties during his administration.
This is significant considering Trump signed an arms deal with Saudi Arabia in 2017 worth more than $100 billion.
The report raises concerns about the potential conflict of interest and whether Trump's decisions were influenced by these payments.
Never miss a story — sign up for the OK! newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what OK! has to offer. It’s gossip too good to wait for!
Powered by RedCircle
The information in the committee report comes from documents obtained from Mazars, Trump's former accounting firm.
Democrats had to undergo years of litigation in order to obtain the records. They first attempted to acquire the documents when they were in the House majority and later issued a subpoena to Mazars in 2019.
Trump fought the subpoena in court but eventually reached a settlement with Mazars and the committee in September 2022. However, Republicans were able to get a court to terminate the enforcement of the agreement in July 2023.
