Politico | After backlash, Donald Trump says his Doral resort won’t host G7 summit
- The US president’s decision to hold the conference at a property he owns brought criticism from lawmakers he needs to help him fight impeachment
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Anita Kumar and Evan Semones on politico.com on October 19, 2019.
After days of relentless criticism, US President Donald Trump abruptly reversed course late Saturday when he announced he would scrap plans to hold next year’s G7 gathering of world leaders at one of his family’s resorts.
Trump made the change after members of Congress and government ethics experts accused him of violating the US Constitution by holding the summit at his financially struggling Trump National Doral Miami resort.
“Based on both Media & Democrat Crazed and Irrational Hostility, we will no longer consider Trump National Doral, Miami, as the Host Site for the G-7 in 2020,” Trump tweeted just 30 minutes after he defended the decision on Twitter.
It was a rare about-face for Trump on his businesses. He has spent nearly three years in office insisting he is allowed to visit and promote his properties around the globe. But his decision to hold the G7 at Doral brought him criticism from even pundits on Fox News, his favourite television network and a growing number of his own party – the same lawmakers he needs to help him fight impeachment.