President Donald Trump rattled political cages on Monday during a joint press conference in France with French President Emmanuel Macron by suggesting that he would hold the 2020 G7 summit at his resort in Miami.
Trump was asked what “reassurances” could he give Americans that he wouldn’t be looking to profit from holding the yearly summit at his Trump National Doral golf resort.
“Well, I'll tell you what: I've spent -- and I think I will, in a combination of loss and opportunity, probably it'll cost me anywhere from $3- to $5 billion to be President,” said President Trump” And the only thing I care about is this country. Couldn't care less. Otherwise, I wouldn't have done it.”
Trump then made the case for why the summit should be held in “fantastic” Miami, specifically at his resort, saying that the city was a “wonderful place” and that the resort's proximity to the Miami International Airport was important.
Trump also disclosed that his administration has already “looked at 12 sites,” but all of those sites were hours away from the nearest airport.
“With Doral, we have a series of magnificent buildings; we call them bungalows,” said Trump” They each hold from 50 to 70 very luxurious rooms with magnificent views. We have incredible conference rooms, incredible restaurants. It's like -- it's like such a natural -- we wouldn't even have to do the work that they did here. And they've done a beautiful job. They've really done a beautiful job.
Trump then stated that he wasn’t going to “make any money” from the event, that he didn’t care about making a cent.
But even though Trump assured Americans that he didn’t stand to make money if the event was held at Trump National, his detractors still went on the attack.
In an email to the south Florida Sun-Sentinel, Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) noted that if Trump held the G7 at his resort in Doral, it would be “yet another self-enrichment scheme” Americans accustomed to seeing from Trump.
“Doral has the international chops to host a G7 event, but it is totally inappropriate for Trump to host it at his own resort. It is yet another self-enrichment scheme,” stated Wasserman Schultz
