Trump says Miami will probably host next year’s G-7 summit — at his own Doral resort

Greater Miami is likely to host next year’s G-7 summit of world leaders — and President Donald Trump now says his own Doral resort is a good bet to be the home site.

Speaking to reporters from France, which is hosting the ongoing Group of 7 summit, Trump acknowledged for the first time Monday morning that he may select his flagship property for the annual gathering of the world’s most powerful people.

The White House later tweeted a video of Trump praising his Miami-area hotel during a subsequent press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, writing “President @realDonaldTrump shares the location of the next @G7 summit, hosted by the United States!”

“Having it in Miami is fantastic,” Trump said during the press conference with Macron. “Each country can have their own villa, or their own bungalow.”

Trump did not explicitly say his Doral resort would host the summit. The White House did not respond to a request for clarification, and attempts to reach spokespersons for Trump National Doral were unsuccessful.

But the U.S. is scheduled to host the G-7 next summer. And the meeting will be held during the home stretch of Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign.

Trump told reporters during his press conference with Macron that the hotel — known for weeks to be under consideration — was a good site due to its amenities and proximity to Miami International Airport, about a nine-mile drive from the hotel. The president also said teams from the military and U.S. Secret Service scouted a dozen sites and ultimately favored his own 643-room resort.

“They went to places all over the country and they came back and said, ‘This is where we’d like to be,’ ” said Trump, defending the decision against criticisms of self-dealing. “It’s not about me. It’s about getting the right location.”

Hosting the G-7 summit — consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States — would make Miami the epicenter of global politics next summer. Trump has said he’d like Russia to be invited back to the summit following the country’s ouster in 2014 due to the annexation of Crimea.

The event could also be a boon to the struggling resort, which Trump purchased out of bankruptcy in 2012 — before becoming president — for $150 million. Hosting dignitaries at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach has already proven profitable for the president’s winter White House. A gathering of world leaders could help boost Trump’s Doral property, which has seen its membership and income slip since he became president.

But doing so would also likely intensify claims that Trump is profiting from the presidency in violation of the so-called Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Trump is already facing lawsuits over similar allegations, primarily about his hotel in Washington, D.C., and House Democrats have launched a series of investigations into the president’s administration.

“Potential Emoluments Clause violations could include foreign government officials who buy up entire floors of hotel rooms, pay higher rents at Trump Tower, lower interest rates on loans, speed up permits for development projects, or take all kinds of other inappropriate actions to ingratiate themselves with the new Administration,” reads a statement on the web page of the House Oversight Committee.

Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Terrie Rizzo blasted Trump for talking about his own property during a conference in which world leaders are attempting to address global problems.

“From day one, Trump has used our country to boost his name and his organization, instead of focusing on the real economic problems Americans are facing,” she said.

If Trump has selected his Doral resort to host the summit, it comes as a surprise to Miami-Dade’s hospitality arm, which is typically aware of large conventions and events. Jennifer Diaz, a spokeswoman for the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the organization has “not been involved in any discussions regarding the G-7 Summit.”

A spokesperson at the office of Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said Monday that, despite global interest in the president’s remarks, the county government has heard nothing from Washington about the potential G-7 summit.

“The mayor’s office has not received any communication from the White House or any agency from the federal government about having a G-7 summit in 2020,” said Myriam Marquez, communications director for Gimenez. “We’re getting calls from all over on this.”

Like many Trump-branded properties, Trump National Doral is administered by the Trump Organization — a private group of companies run by the president’s adult sons while Trump is serving. Per the agreement with his sons, Trump can pull any amount of money from the organization’s coffers at any time, according to statements by the Trump Organization’s attorney to ProPublica.

Trump’s Doral hotel — which he visited for the first time as president in June — has been among his most profitable assets. But it has been less of a moneymaker since he became president: Trump reported that he made $76 million from the Doral resort and golf club in 2018, down from $116 million in 2016.

In a December 2018 meeting with a magistrate for the Miami-Dade Value Adjustment Board, which considers property tax appeals, a consultant hired by the Trump Organization said the hotel was “severely under-performing.” The consultant cited lower occupancy and room rates at the Doral hotel compared to its competitors and an 18 percent slump in revenue from 2015 to 2017 as reasons to lower the property’s value.

The PGA Tour, which served as the resort’s major event for more than half a century, left in 2016 amid Trump’s highly polarizing presidential campaign and after Cadillac reduced its sponsorship. The Miami Heat pulled its golf tournament from the Trump Doral resort in 2017 after four straight years there.

But Trump said he won’t profit off the event and, if anything, he said he’s lost billions of dollars in missed business opportunities as president.

“In my opinion I’m not going to make any money,” Trump said. “I don’t want to make money. I don’t care about making money.”

Miami Herald reporters Sarah Blaskey, Taylor Dolven and Douglas Hanks contributed to this report.

This story was originally published August 26, 2019 at 8:58 AM with the headline "Trump says Miami will probably host next year’s G-7 summit — at his own Doral resort."