India 5th Among 20 Countries that Gave Trump Businesses of $7.8M During Presidency: Report
India spent a total of $282,764 at Trump World Tower in New York and Trump International Hotel in the US capital of Washington D.C. from 2017 to 2020.
New Delhi, January 06, dmanewsdesk: During the time of his presidency, former US President Donald Trump’s businesses reportedly received payments totalling at least $7.8 million directly from at least 20 foreign governments, including India, as per a report released by Democrat members of the US House Oversight Committee on Thursday, January 4.
According to the report ‘White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump’ by House Oversight Committee Democrats, the payments are only a tiny portion of the foreign payments directed to Trump and his family throughout his 2017-2021 administration.
These records listed the payments for two years at four out of Trump’s 500 businesses – Trump International Hotel in Washington DC, Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York and Trump World Tower at 845 United Nations Plaza in New York.
The US constitution forbids federal officeholders from accepting any form of money, payments, or gifts from foreign governments and monarchs without obtaining the consent of Congress. The report, drafted by the Democrats, highlights that Trump did not seek any such consent from Congress.
The majority of the documented $7.8 million comes from the Chinese government, with a significant portion of $5.5 million originating from sources such as the Chinese embassy, the state-run Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), and Hainan Airlines Holding Company. These details were extracted from documents acquired from Trump’s former accounting firm, Mazars, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
China outspent the second highest spender, Saudi Arabia, by over nine times. Other countries mentioned in the report include Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Kuwait, and the Philippines.
India secured the fifth position, having spent a total of $282,764 at Trump World Tower in New York and Trump International Hotel in the US capital of Washington D.C. from 2017 to 2020.
Specifically, the India chapter’s table provided a detailed breakdown of the amount, disclosing that the Permanent Mission of India to the UN allocated $264,184 for payments to Trump World Tower from 2017 to 2020.
There has been no official response from the Indian government.
While it is not mentioned in the report, the Trump World Tower, which is located opposite the UN headquarters, had been the official residence of the India’s Permanent Ambassador since India bought a unit in 2004, The Wire has learnt.
The limited records shared by Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars stated that
India had spent $66,046 on combined common charges for two units at Trump World Tower on Turtle Bay in 2018. The report then projects this figure over the four years of Trump’s presidency, resulting in an estimated total of $264,184. It also said that this figure did not include additional charges like that of electricity and special assessment which were paid in 2018.
The remaining $18,500 was apparently the expenditure by the Indian embassy in Washington DC on three separate stays by Indian diplomats during February and March 2017. These days correspond with the details of stay obtained by an Indian journalist under Right to Information Act of the stay of eight Indian officials in 2018.
The India section observed the South Asian country was home to the largest number of Trump-owned business projects outside the United States.
“Former President Trump’s numerous foreign business entanglements in India and his direction of U.S. foreign policy during his presidency repeatedly intersected, creating conspicuous conflicts of interest”, said the report by the Democrats on the Oversight Committee.
The report stated that Trump laid the foundation for his “uniquely warm relationship” with the Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi through his business ventures”.
“In fact, while visiting the White House during President Trump’s Administration, Prime Minister Modi explicitly remarked that Mr. Trump had been “full of very warm remarks and observations for me” when Mr Trump had previously been in India promoting his business interests prior to his presidency,” it stated.
Trump had visited India in August 2014 to promote a project, just after Modi was elected as prime minister. His partner in the project was Mangal Prabhat Lodha, a long-time Bharatiya Janata Party legislator, who is currently a minister in Maharashtra cabinet.
The report noted that when Trump’s Mumbai Tower deal was announced in 2013, “several of Mr. Lodha’s companies had reportedly been under investigation by Indian officials for corrupt practices and tax evasion, and the Mumbai development was not “a sure thing”.
The project’s prospects “improved” after Modi took office, it observed. “Under the Modi government, the investigations into Mr. Lodha’s companies began to wind down, with several investigators alleging that they were forced to end their cases prematurely at the urging of “loyalists” to Prime Minister Modi, according to reporting from the New Republic.”
The House Democrat’s report is a response to the Republican-led Oversight Committee’s impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, which aims to link him to international business deals involving his son Hunter Biden before his presidency.
On Thursday, Eric Trump, the former president’s son, said in an email that the Chinese bank mentioned in the report had signed a 20-year lease at Trump Tower in 2008, almost a decade before his father took office. And he argued it was clear that the former president had not allowed his personal business incentives to drive his official actions.
After the publication of the report, Eric reiterated on his social media account that any profit that the business earned during the presidency were sent to the US Treasury through a voluntary annual payment.
Source: The Wire
