The Trumps Refuse To Say How Much They Will Charge For Hotel Rooms At The G7

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The Trump Organization says it will sell hotel rooms for the G7 “at cost,” but it refuses to say how much that cost is.

But a Trump Organization spokesman on Friday declined to explain how the company is going to determine what “at cost” means or how it will calculate what part of a hotel bill paid by a foreign government official is considered profit.

Mr. Schooner said the Doral, during the off-season in June when it is hot and muggy in Florida, has a low occupancy rate. So even if otherwise empty rooms are sold at a discount, it is still a major financial benefit to the company, as would be the global publicity from an event like the Group of 7 meeting.

Doral has an occupancy rate in June in the low thirty percent range, so Trump is selling hotel rooms “at cost” to foreign governments that would normally would be empty.As former White House Ethics Director Walter Shaub pointed out, “The president was personally involved in this. Mick Mulvaney’s description of what happened makes it sound like he was involved in framing how they were going to select a source. And the statement that he’s supposedly doing it at cost, which is a ridiculous, meaningless term, suggests that he possibly could have lowered his price to match other competitors.”

Trump is violating the emoluments clause by holding the G7 at his golf club.

The Trump Organization’s refusal to come clean on the cost of the rooms reeks of one last big score for the Trump’s before it all comes crashing down.

For more discussion about this story join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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