House Republicans sparked controversy by hosting a taxpayer-backed retreat at Donald Trump's Florida golf resort, raising fresh concerns over constitutional violations and presidential self-enrichment.
A report surfaced on Tuesday stating that the Republican retreat at Trump's south Florida golf resort is providing a financial boon to the president upon his return to office.
In an effort to pass the president's agenda by Memorial Day, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and other GOP leaders have gathered at the Trump National Doral Golf Club in the Miami region to discuss potential strategies. Regardless of the outcome of those political conversations, the president is expected to benefit financially, according to the Washington Post.
According to Post, if the congressional retreat is held at a Trump property, it could spark the same criticism that plagued Trump's first term. This criticism centered around the idea that the president has tried to take advantage of his public position by having people close to him, including Secret Service agents, stay at his properties, sometimes even using taxpayer money.
"Trump's critics have long said doing so is a violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which aims to ensure that the public interest trumps personal gain."
The three-day gathering is being attended by nearly all 218 members of the GOP conference, as well as some of their family members and workers. House Republicans have never before spent money at the president's personal property as they have done this year.
Republican from Florida Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart opened Monday's gathering with Trump before the president headed to the nation's capital and said that being in Doral isn't better than being in Washington, D.C. in January.
The White House did not want to be quoted for this report, but an anonymous White House official did tell the newspaper that they tried to keep the number of staff members staying at Doral to a minimum and that the rates paid for the rooms were within the federal travel per diem rates, The Raw Story shares.
There were suspicions of self-dealing during Trump's first term, and they will certainly be rekindled by the retreat, according to the Post.
In 2022, then-Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) wrote to the Secret Service director, "The exorbitant rates charged to the Secret Service and agents' frequent stays at Trump-owned properties raise significant concerns about the former president's self-dealing and may have resulted in a taxpayer-funded windfall for former president Trump's struggling businesses." Trump's businesses were among those affected.
