John,

Thanks to Trump, previously obscure elements of the Constitution have come into bold relief. Who’d ever heard of the Insurrection Clause? But now the Supreme Court is hearing arguments about it. Similarly, who’d ever heard of “emoluments” before Trump? But before Trump, no American president had ever made millions off foreign governments doing business with his hotels, restaurants, and real estate.

It turns out, we now know, thanks to a report by House Oversight Committee Democrats and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin, that Trump received at least $7.8 million while in office from foreign dignitaries of 20 countries, to stay at his properties in Washington, New York, and Las Vegas. What better way to gain access than to drop a few million dollars straight into your host’s pocket?

What is not known, however, is how many millions more Trump may have received. Only four of Trump’s over 500 businesses are included in the report, as the new Committee Chair James Comer halted the investigation when Republicans took the House in 2022. The good news is, we need not rely only on the House Democrats’ report. Now it’s time for the Senate to pick up the charge.

Sign the petition today: Tell Senator Gary Peters, chair of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, to pick up the Emoluments investigation and determine how many more millions then-president Trump received privately from foreign governments.

When Trump moved into the White House in 2017, he handed over the day-to-day operations of his businesses to his sons, but he retained his personal ownership. Among all his properties, the favorite destination of foreign leaders was Trump International Hotel in Washington, and none visited more often than officials from Chairman Xi’s China. Between 2017 and 2019, China was Trump’s biggest customer, with nearly $5.6 million in expenditures at Trump Tower and his hotels in Washington and Las Vegas.

Second in line to line Trump’s pockets was Saudi Arabia, which between 2017 and 2020 spent over $615,000 at Trump World Tower in New York and the Trump Hotel in Washington. Trump boasted of his special relationship with the Saudis even before he took office, claiming at a campaign rally in 2015:

"Saudi Arabia, I get along great with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much!"

Could this help explain why he publicly doubted the American CIA’s conclusion that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the killing of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi in 2018?

Qatar was the next biggest spender, spending over $465,000 at Trump World Tower. Other countries adding to Trump’s empire included Kuwait, Afghanistan, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates.

But the great unanswered question is: how much more did foreign governments spend at Trump’s other hundreds of businesses?

This is why we need to call on Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chair Gary Peters to take action.

We need a full accounting of what foreign deals Trump made privately while holding public office, and we must require him to turn over any ill-gotten gains to the U.S. Treasury.

Thank you for holding the Presidency to Constitutional standards as established in the Emoluments Clause.

- Amanda

Amanda Ford, Director
Democracy for America
Advocacy Fund