The family business · First term · № 27
Qatar buys a fourth apartment in Trump World Tower for $6.5 million
“These apartments, plus the recent unit, were all purchased due to their location, nothing more” Qatar's mission to the United Nations
- Date
- , Email to The Guardian; purchase recorded in New York City property records
- Subject
- Qatar
- Benefit
- Real estate and licensing
- Government
- Qatar
- Beneficiary
- Donald Trump (Trump World Tower)
- Amount
- $6.5 million purchase price; $465,744 in estimated charges (2017-2020)
- Topic
- Ethics & conflicts
- Era
- First term
What happened
Qatar's mission to the United Nations signed a deal on January 17, 2018 for a $6.5 million apartment in Trump World Tower, its fourth unit in the building, The Guardian reported from city records. The sellers were two sisters who had bought the unit in 2007; Trump's company is paid monthly charges by the building's residents. A House Oversight Democratic staff report estimated from Mazars records that Qatar paid $465,744 in base charges on its units during Trump's term. The purchase came during a blockade of Qatar by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which began in June 2017 and which Trump initially backed; he received Qatar's emir at the White House on April 10, 2018. The same report said rooms at Trump's Washington hotel were booked from January to March 2018 under the name "Sheikh Al Thani Family" at a cost of more than $283,000, but excluded that sum from its totals after Qatar's ambassador wrote that the guests were private citizens and not government officials. The Trump Organization did not respond to The Guardian's request for comment, and Trump's lawyers have argued that payments for services at fair market value are not emoluments.
Sources
- Trump set to benefit as Qatar buys $6.5m apartment in New York tower
- White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump
- Trump's businesses got at least $7.8 million in foreign payments while he was president, House Democrats say
- Qatar: Freedom in the World 2018 Country Report