Trump surprised by backlash to plan to host G7 at his Doral resort

Donald Trump has been forced into a humiliating climbdown over plans to host the next G7 meeting at his luxury Florida resort, following a political outcry.

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The US president announced in a Saturday night tweet that he would seek an alternative venue to host world leaders next June.

The move represented a rare admission of defeat by Trump, who typically digs in and fights to defend every controversial statement and policy.

Though the initial floating of the idea in August prompted widespread expressions of concern, on Sunday Trump’s acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, said the president was “honestly surprised at the level of pushback” his decision generated this week.

To an incredulous response from his interviewer, Mulvaney said Trump “still considers himself to be in the hospitality business”.

Even in his concession, Trump complained bitterly that he thought he was “doing something very good for our country” by choosing the Trump National Doral, near Miami, to host G7 leaders.

“It is big, grand, on hundreds of acres, next to Miami international airport, has tremendous ballrooms & meeting rooms, and each delegation would have ... its own 50 to 70 unit building,” he tweeted.

Trump added that he had announced he would host the G7 at no profit and at no cost to the US but, he claimed, both the media and Democrats had reacted unreasonably.

“Therefore, based on both media & Democrat crazed and irrational hostility, we will no longer consider Trump National Doral, Miami, as the host site for the G-7 in 2020,” the president wrote. “We will begin the search for another site, including the possibility of Camp David, immediately. Thank you!”

The choice of Trump National Doral was widely condemned as the most egregious example yet of the president abusing his position to enrich himself and his business.

The morning after the u-turn, Mulvaney sought to explain it on Fox News Sunday.

“The president isn’t one for holding back his feelings and his emotions about something,” he said. “He was honestly surprised at the level of pushback.

“At the end of the day he still considers himself to be in the hospitality business and he saw an opportunity to take the biggest leaders from around the world and he wanted to put on the absolute best show, the best visit that he possibly could and he was very comfortable doing that at Doral.

‘… I think it’s the right decision to change, we’ll have to find some place else and my guess is we’ll find someplace else that the media won’t like either for some other reason.”

Pulled up on describing the president of the United States as still “in the hospitality business”, Mulvaney said: “But that’s his background. It’s like I used to be in the real estate business … he wanted to put on a show, to take care of folks, he’s in the hotel business or at least he was before he was president.”

Trump’s Doral resort was in need of a boost: in May the Washington Post reported that its operating income had fallen 69% since 2015.

Trump’s u-turn was welcomed by ethics watchdogs. Noah Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said: “President Trump’s decision to award the G7 conference to his own property was outrageous, corrupt and a constitutional violation.

“It was stunningly corrupt even for a stunningly corrupt administration. His reversal of that decision is a bow to reality, but does not change how astonishing it was that a president ever thought this was appropriate, or that it was something he could get away with.”

The outcome shows that pressure works, even on Trump, Bookbinder added.

“The president deserves no plaudits for doing the right thing only after public outcry forced him not to do the wrong thing. This was one corrupt conflict of interest. He’s racked up well over 2,000 of them. So we’ll keep fighting. Even late on a Saturday night.”

Walter Shaub, former director of the Office of Government Ethics, tweeted: “Blam! Never doubt that the public’s efforts to hold this corrupt administration accountable is worth all the effort!! Remember this, my friends, as we continue to fight for the integrity of our government and for democracy.”

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When the venue announcement was made on Thursday by Mulvaney, who claimed that Doral “was millions of dollars cheaper” than other facilities, Democrats immediately vowed to investigate.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted: “The constitution is clear: the president cannot accept gifts or payments from foreign governments. No one is above the law.”

House judiciary committee chairman Jerrold Nadler described the move as “among the most brazen examples yet of the president’s corruption”.

The backlash came with Trump already facing an impeachment inquiry in the Democratic-led House and a backlash from Republicans over his decision to withdraw US troops from northern Syria, abandoning Kurdish allies. A number of congressional investigations are also scrutinising Trump’s finances and potential conflicts of interest stemming from his property business.

The emoluments clause of the US constitution prohibits government officials from receiving salaries, fees or profits from foreign and domestic governments without congressional approval.

Asked on Sunday if Trump understood that his Doral decision “looked lousy”, Mulvaney said: “He knows, he thinks that people think it looks lousy.”

But he insisted: “Could we have put on an excellent G7 at Doral? Absolutely.”