Trump promotes his ‘magnificent’ Florida club for next G-7 meeting – NBCNews.com
President Donald Trump defended the idea of hosting next year’s G-7 summit at his Miami golf resort, extolling the amenities of his club and insisting he would not profit off the venture.
“I’m not going to make any money,” Trump said at a Monday news conference at the G-7 in Biarritz, France. “I don’t care about making money.”
But the president, after saying his team surveyed a dozen possible sites for the summit, pointed to his golf club’s “series of magnificent buildings.” Trump said each member country “can have their own villa, or own bungalow” and praised some features like the “incredible conference rooms” and “great restaurants.”
Trump also repeated an assertion he made before a group of Pennsylvania workers earlier this month, claiming the presidency has cost him “$3 to $5 billion.” He added: “At some point, I’m going to detail that.”
Trump expressed interest in holding the summit at his Miami club earlier Monday during a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Miami is a “great location” for next year’s summit, he said at that meeting, adding that it would be held next to the city’s international airport.
“It’s one of the biggest airports, takes planes from everywhere. Sometimes, you have hours and hours of driving to get to certain locations,” he said.
“You’ll only have a five-minute drive, which is good,” he added while turning to Merkel.
When asked if it would be held at the Trump National Doral Miami, an 800-acre golf resort located less than five miles from the airport, the president said it was a strong contender.
“They love the location of the hotel,” he said. “We haven’t found anything that’s even close to competing with it.”
The Washington Post has reported that profits at the resort are down since 2015, according to Trump’s federal disclosures. In two years, the resort’s net operating income had fallen by 69 percent, according to the newspaper.
On Saturday, Trump arrived in France focused on a trade war with China and eyeing another with Europe, but has since sought to emphasize the camaraderie and good relations among the leaders.
He said there had been “great unity” on the question of how to deal with Iran and they had “more or less” come to a conclusion.
However, Merkel, sitting beside him, said that while she and Trump had productive talks on Iran, there was still a long way to go on the issue.
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