Foreign Government Spending at Trump Properties: Saudi, Kuwaiti, Qatari, and Other Foreign Government Payments Beyond the Washington Hotel
Tier 4Documented2001-06-01 to 2021-01-20
Factual Summary
While the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. (documented in EMOL-001) became the most visible venue for foreign government spending at Trump properties, a broader pattern of foreign government payments flowed to Trump-owned properties across multiple locations before, during, and throughout Trump's presidency. A January 2024 report by House Oversight Committee Democrats, based on documents obtained from Trump's accounting firm Mazars USA, documented that at least 20 foreign governments made payments totaling at least $7.8 million to Trump-owned businesses during his presidency.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has had the most extensive documented financial relationship with Trump properties. In June 2001, Saudi Arabia purchased the entire 45th floor of Trump World Tower in New York for approximately $4.5 million. Saudi Arabia, along with India, Qatar, Kuwait, Afghanistan, and a Chinese-government-linked petroleum company, owned or rented apartments at Trump World Tower and combined paid the Trump Organization an estimated $1.7 million in charges and fees during Trump's presidency. China spent over $5.5 million at Trump properties during his time in office, according to documents reviewed by CNN.
Kuwait moved its National Day celebration to the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., shortly after Trump's election in November 2016. The embassy had previously held the annual event at the Four Seasons Hotel. Kuwait spent roughly $150,000 at the Trump hotel for National Day events in 2017 and 2018. The move was widely interpreted as an effort by the Kuwaiti government to curry favor with the incoming president, as the timing coincided directly with Trump's election.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) estimated that Trump likely benefited from approximately $13.6 million in payments from foreign governments during his presidency, a figure that exceeds the amounts documented through the Mazars records because it includes estimated spending that was not captured in the accounting records obtained by the Oversight Committee.
The foreign government spending raised questions under the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution (Article I, Section 9, Clause 8), which provides that no person holding any office of profit or trust shall, without the consent of Congress, accept any present, emolument, office, or title from any foreign state. Multiple lawsuits alleging violations of the Emoluments Clause were filed during Trump's presidency but were dismissed on standing or mootness grounds without reaching the merits.
Primary Sources
1. House Oversight Committee Democrats report on foreign government payments to Trump businesses, January 4, 2024, based on Mazars USA documents
2. CREW report: "Trump likely benefited from $13.6 million in payments from foreign governments during his presidency"
3. New York City property records documenting Saudi Arabia's purchase of the 45th floor of Trump World Tower
4. Kuwait Embassy event records and hotel bookings at Trump International Hotel, 2017-2018
Corroborating Sources
1. CNN: "China spent over $5.5 million at Trump properties while he was in office, documents show," January 4, 2024
2. CBS News: "Trump's businesses got at least $7.8 million in foreign payments while he was president, House Democrats say," January 2024
3. CNN: "New records reveal foreign government spending at Trump's Washington hotel," November 14, 2022
4. OPB: "Foreign governments paid millions to Trump's companies while he was president," January 4, 2024
5. CBS News: "Trump and Saudi Arabia: Deep business ties spark new scrutiny"
6. PolitiFact: "Donald Trump's claim of 'no financial interests' in Saudi Arabia? That's Half True at best," October 2018
Counterarguments and Context
The Trump Organization maintained that it charged foreign governments fair market rates for services rendered and that hotel stays and property rentals are standard commercial transactions, not emoluments in the constitutional sense. Trump's attorneys argued that the Emoluments Clause was intended to prevent foreign governments from bestowing gifts or titles on officeholders, not to prohibit commercial transactions conducted at arm's length. The Trump Organization announced at the beginning of Trump's presidency that it would donate profits from foreign government patronage to the U.S. Treasury, though the methodology for calculating those profits was not independently verified and the donations amounted to a fraction of the total revenue. Defenders noted that prior presidents with business interests also received income from sources that could include foreign nationals, though none in recent history maintained an active global hospitality business while in office. Critics argued that the constitutional provision does not distinguish between fair-market-rate transactions and gifts, that the pattern of foreign governments shifting their business to Trump properties after his election suggested the payments were intended to gain favor, and that the Emoluments Clause litigation was dismissed on procedural grounds without any court ruling that the payments were constitutionally permissible.
Author's Note
This entry is classified as Tier 4 because, while the payments are partially documented through the Mazars records obtained by the Oversight Committee and through CREW's research, the full scope of foreign government spending at Trump properties remains incompletely documented. The emoluments lawsuits were dismissed without reaching the merits, so no court has ruled on whether these payments constituted prohibited emoluments. This entry supplements EMOL-001, which focuses on the D.C. hotel, by documenting the broader pattern of foreign government spending across Trump's portfolio of properties.