Trump businesses got $7.8 million in foreign payments when he was prez; China paid over $5.5 million

Businesses tied to former United States president Donald Trump got at least $7.8 million in foreign payments from 20 countries when he was serving as president, said Democratic congressional investigators, reported news agency Reuterson Thursday (Jan 4).

In a 156-page report, US House of Representatives Oversight Committee Democrats said, "These countries spent — often lavishly — on apartments and hotel stays at Donald Trump's properties — personally enriching President Trump while he made foreign policy decisions connected to their policy agendas with far-reaching ramifications for the United States."

The countries included China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Malaysia.

China spent over $5.5 million at Trump properties

The report said that the Chinese government and its state-owned entities spent more than $5.5 million at properties owned by Trump when he was president. This is the largest total of payments made by a foreign nation to date.

A report by CNN on Thursday said that these payments included millions of dollars from the Chinese embassy in the US, a state-owned Chinese bank accused by the US Justice Department of helping North Korea evade sanctions and a state-owned Chinese air transit company.

Trump's campaign has not commented on the matter so far. The 77-year-old Republican, who is a presidential hopeful, is facing 91 felony counts across four criminal cases.

Shortly after Trump became president in 2016, Congress began investigating conflicts of interest and his potential violations of the emoluments clause of the American Constitution, which bars the acceptance of presents from foreign states by a person holding federal elected office without congressional consent.

Reuters reported that the investigation led to a lengthy court dispute, which ended in a settlement in 2022. When Republicans took control of the House in 2023, the committee stopped requiring Trump's accounting firm to produce documents and a district court ended the litigation.

'Trump has legitimate businesses, Bidens do not'

Reacting to the report's findings, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer said that it was beyond parody that Democrats continued their obsession with Trump. "Former President Trump has legitimate businesses but the Bidens do not," Comer said in a statement.

(With inputs from agencies)