Donald Trump rushed to his Twitter account on Tuesday morning to defend the thing he values most in life—a golf resort. According to Trump, “There are no bedbugs” at his Doral links. That’s just a “false and nasty rumor” that was spread by “radical left Democrats.” Apparently, that would be Democrats such as Trump’s own legal team, who reached an agreement with a businessman who was bitten by the false and nasty rumor on his back, face, and arms when he visited Doral two years ago.
The Miami Herald reports that the lawsuit was settled confidentially, meaning that the terms of the agreement are unlikely to ever become public—which would include any admission by Trump’s club that it is a bug-ridden health threat. What is public is a statement from the resort that the businessman involved “conducted himself so carelessly and negligently that his conduct was the sole proximate cause or contributing cause” to the dozens of bites. Apparently, he was careless and negligent in allowing himself to fall asleep at a club owned by Donald Trump. Truthfully … that does sound pretty negligent.
Of course, the original lawsuit calls for payment for “unsafe conditions” and negligent behavior leading to welts on the plaintiff’s face, neck, arms, and torso. And, according to that lawsuit, the plaintiff was told that the resort “tested positive for bedbugs” by the resort staff. So come on down, world. Welts for everyone.
Meanwhile, Trump argues that the club is “perfectly located” for the next G-7 summit. The requirement for the next G-7 meeting is pretty specific. It has to be in the United States. And since the American Hotel and Lodging Association says there only 54,200 or so hotels in the United States … the Doral has to be it!
While George Conway might be pushing it a bit to declare that Trump’s using the G-7 to promote his declining golf course (bookings down 69% since Trump took office) is an impeachable offense, it’s absolutely true that Trump’s effort is simply tacky. Undignified. And almost certainly illegal. Based on the scale of the event, Trump is pushing a location that would absolutely put not millions, but tens of millions directly in his pocket. If anyone is looking for a definition of what the emoluments clause was meant to stop—this is it. Trump is seeking to use his position of power to directly extort millions from both the United States and other nations.
Hang on, George. I think I agree with you after all.