Fox & Friends Presses Don Jr. on Turnberry: Is Your Family Profiting Off the Trump Presidency?
Donald Trump Jr. was asked a pointed question in an appearance on his father’s favorite morning show Friday: Is the Trump family benefitting from the presidency?
Back in 2016, after Donald Trump’s election, Don Jr. had planned to stay out of politics and run the family business, but hasn’t had much success (he’s active on Trump’s reelection campaign, and appeared on Fox & Friends this morning to make the case against the 2020 Democrats).
That, along with the many ties between the Trump administration and the Trump Organization — their hotel in Washington D.C. and Mar-a-Lago resort, for example, are a hotspot for those looking to influence the president — has raised questions over whether the family is seeking to enrich itself through the presidency.
On Fox & Friends, host Brian Kilmeade asked Don Jr. about the new House investigation into Air Force crews opting to stay at Trump’s Scotland resort while refueling at a nearby airport, thereby funneling tax dollars into Trump properties.
“One of the things [Democrats are] saying is the president is using his office to benefit his business. You’re running his business: Airplanes stopping in Scotland where they normally wouldn’t. Are you guys benefiting financially from the president holding office?” Kilmeade asked
“It’s ridiculous,” Don Jr. replied. “First of all, he’s not involved at all with that things.”
“They also neglect to talk about the fact we voluntarily stopped doing any international deals,” he continued. “I mean, just think of the opportunity cost. The amount of deals that I have done over the last 10 years extrapolate that over the eight years of what will be his presidency — That is a lot of deals.”
“Someone bought a cheeseburger at Trump hotel!” Don Jr. said, mocking critics of the ties between the organization and the presidency. “It is asinine.”
While Trump declined to place his assets in a blind trust while serving as president, he made pledges early in his administration to satisfy ethics hawks. One of those pledges, as Don Jr. mentioned, was that Trump Org would pursue no deals with foreign countries. Earlier this year, a USA Today report rated that promise “not kept.”
Per the report:
The company hasn’t taken any new deals with foreign countries but has continued to work on several foreign deals that were arranged before Trump took office. Even without the new deals, Trump’s former business partners have continued working and an influx of deals could be on the table once Trump leaves the White House. One former partner told Forbes last year that Trump, since becoming president, had asked about plans for a potential tower in the country of Georgia.
Even without foreign deals, the company has continued to see an influx of business from foreign countries, most notably from Saudi Arabia.
Watch above, via Fox News.
