John,
NEW REPORT: Donald Trump made nearly $10 million from the Middle East as president — and possibly much more
That means Trump pulled in at least six times his official presidential salary in side income from the Middle East alone during his time in office. And the total is likely much higher.
John, that's not a coincidence — it's a direct result of his decision not to divest from his business interests.
Every president in modern times has divested conflicting assets — but not Trump.
Trump and his allies in Congress visited and held events at his clubs, hotels and golf courses, and they advertised to those looking to influence the government that Trump properties were open for business.
Foreign governments and officials seized the opportunity to ingratiate themselves with the president — especially officials from the Middle East.
For example…
- In 2016 and 2017, Saudi government lobbyists reserved blocks of rooms at Trump’s D.C. hotel, “paying for an estimated 500 nights at the luxury hotel in just three months,” and spending at least $270,000 at the property in total.
- Qatar purchased a $6.5 million condo in Trump World Tower, and started renting space in the “most valuable asset” in Trump’s portfolio — a San Francisco building he co-owns — directing $125,000 per year in rent to Trump.
- Trump raked in money from the United Arab Emirates through his Dubai golf course amid concerns about corruption and human rights abuses in the country. Before taking office, Trump was paid as much as $10 million in royalties from the golf course and other projects in Dubai.
- In 2017 and 2019 groups with ties to the Turkish government held four events at Trump properties and Turkish officials made 15 visits to the Trump Hotel in D.C., where they spent up to $10,000 per night on rooms.
Trump knew what he was doing — and he loved it. He bragged about the money he would make, saying:
“They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million… Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much… It’s big time and it’s big-time money.”
Over four years in office, Trump accumulated more than 3,700 conflicts of interest stemming from his refusal to divest from his private business. So the $9.6 million that we know Trump made from Middle Eastern countries during his presidency is just the tip of the iceberg.
We may never know exactly how much money Trump made during the presidency, though we know it’s at least $1.6 billion. And we may never know the full extent to which Trump’s foreign business ties influenced his decision making as president.
There is, however, plenty of evidence that Trump’s actions in the White House were influenced — if not guided — by his financial interests, subverting the national interests for his own profit.
This profiteering never stopped, which is illustrated clearly by the Saudi-backed LIV golf tournaments being held at Trump properties, which are bringing in untold sums of money, and leaving us to wonder whether it’s all geared towards endearing Trump to Saudi Arabian interests.
During Trump’s presidency, CREW took thousands of legal actions holding him accountable for his blatant corruption and violations of the law, and we’re not letting that fight go.
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Thank you,
Team CREW
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