Pascrell Ridicules 2020 G7 Summit at Trump Property

Letter to Trump asks him to return any profits to treasury, end theft of taxpayer dollars

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) reacted to the outrageous announcement by the White House that the 2020 G7 Summit would be held at a Trump-owned property, and in a letter to Trump suggested that Trump reject any profits from the 2020 G7 Summit and then release his tax returns to prove he does not profit from the summit.

“You and your adjutants have repeatedly made the dubious claim that you and your family do not profit from your office,” wrote Rep. Pascrell. “You have also asserted that you do not accept a salary. In the spirit of those claims, why not put your money where your mouth is and donate every penny put into your property from hosting the G7 into the U.S. Treasury?”

Rep. Pascrell’s full letter can be viewed here, the text of which follows:

October 17, 2019

The Honorable Donald J. Trump

The White House

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. Trump:

The decision to hold the 2020 G7 leader’s summit at a property owned and operated by your family is a crystal-clear violation of the Constitution and a disgrace to America.

Since you have taken office, I have been one of the foremost voices in Congress demanding oversight of the malfeasance within your administration stretching back to your original sin refusal to divest yourself from your myriad business interests upon entering government service. While I remain committed to stopping the toxic flow of corruption oozing from the foot of your office door, I do not write to you asking that you relocate the G7 conference to a neutral site you do not own. Your refusal not just to rein in corruption, but your open embrace of graft would give such a request all the futility of asking a goldfish to explain Einstein’s theory of general relativity.

Instead, I write to make a simple suggestion. You and your adjutants have repeatedly made the dubious claim that you and your family do not profit from your office. You have also asserted that you do not accept a salary. In the spirit of those claims, why not put your money where your mouth is and donate every penny put into your property from hosting the G7 into the U.S. Treasury? That is, take every French, Italian, and German Euro, Japanese yen, Canadian dollar, and English pound spent at your property – which reports suggest is failing financially – during next year’s summit and make sure they never reach your pocket. And for good measure, the resort should donate its services to the U.S. government and not charge taxpayers. You can then release your tax returns to demonstrate that you did not personally profit from the G7.

History will look upon you favorably if you treat this as an opportunity to prove that for once, your administration can put the Constitution and the clean operation of our nation ahead of your profits. Before 2017, 43 out of 43 of your predecessors did the right thing throughout their tenures, and you can do the same by rejecting any profits from the 2020 G7. What do you say?

Sincerely,

###