[ { "id": "autocrats-alwaleed-yacht-1991", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "real-estate", "subject": "Saudi Arabia", "country": "Saudi Arabia", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump", "amount": "$20 million", "freedom_house": "Not Free (1991-92)", "title": "Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal buys Trump's yacht, the Trump Princess", "quote": "", "date": "1991", "venue": "Reported by the Associated Press and The Washington Post", "era": "pre-politics", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "In 1991 Donald Trump sold his yacht, the Trump Princess, to Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal for $20 million, according to the Associated Press and The Washington Post. The AP reported that Trump was close to personal bankruptcy at the time and that the price was a third less than what he had reportedly paid for the vessel; the Post reported that he was nearly $900 million in debt from failed casino projects. The New York Times gave the reported price as $18 million. Trump biographer Tim O'Brien told the Post that the deal favored the prince and that there was no indication at the time that Saudis wanted to curry favor with Trump. Freedom House rated Saudi Arabia Not Free in its 1991-92 survey.", "sources": [ { "title": "'I love the Saudis': Trump business ties to kingdom run deep", "outlet": "Associated Press (via Fox Business)", "url": "https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/i-love-the-saudis-trump-business-ties-to-kingdom-run-deep", "date": "2018-10-12" }, { "title": "'I like them very much:' Trump has long-standing business ties with Saudis, who have boosted his hotels since he took office", "outlet": "The Washington Post (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20181012120453/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/i-like-them-very-much-trump-has-long-standing-business-ties-with-saudis-who-have-boosted-his-hotels-since-he-took-office/2018/10/11/0870df24-cd67-11e8-a360-85875bac0b1f_story.html", "date": "2018-10-11" }, { "title": "Trump's Business Ties in the Gulf Raise Questions About His Allegiances", "outlet": "The New York Times (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20170619045715/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/17/world/middleeast/trumps-business-ties-in-persian-gulf-raise-questions-about-his-allegiances.html", "date": "2017-06-17" }, { "title": "Country and Territory Ratings and Statuses, 1973-2024", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/Country_and_Territory_Ratings_and_Statuses_FIW_1973-2024.xlsx", "date": "2024" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-alwaleed-plaza-hotel-1995", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "real-estate", "subject": "Saudi Arabia", "country": "Saudi Arabia", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump", "amount": "$325 million", "freedom_house": "Not Free (1995-96)", "title": "Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal joins $325 million deal for Trump's Plaza Hotel", "quote": "", "date": "1995", "venue": "Reported by The New York Times, the Associated Press and The Washington Post", "era": "pre-politics", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "In 1995 Trump sold the Plaza Hotel in New York to a partnership formed by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and an investor from Singapore, according to The New York Times. The Times reported that the $325 million deal enabled Trump to escape a default on his loans. The Associated Press described the hotel as money-losing, and The Washington Post reported that the prince acquired his stake by agreeing to pay off some of Trump's debts on the property. Trump biographer Tim O'Brien told the Post that the prince got a good price because Trump was in financial straits, and that there was no indication then that Saudis wanted to curry favor with him. Freedom House rated Saudi Arabia Not Free in its 1995-96 survey.", "sources": [ { "title": "Trump's Business Ties in the Gulf Raise Questions About His Allegiances", "outlet": "The New York Times (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20170619045715/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/17/world/middleeast/trumps-business-ties-in-persian-gulf-raise-questions-about-his-allegiances.html", "date": "2017-06-17" }, { "title": "'I love the Saudis': Trump business ties to kingdom run deep", "outlet": "Associated Press (via Fox Business)", "url": "https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/i-love-the-saudis-trump-business-ties-to-kingdom-run-deep", "date": "2018-10-12" }, { "title": "'I like them very much:' Trump has long-standing business ties with Saudis, who have boosted his hotels since he took office", "outlet": "The Washington Post (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20181012120453/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/i-like-them-very-much-trump-has-long-standing-business-ties-with-saudis-who-have-boosted-his-hotels-since-he-took-office/2018/10/11/0870df24-cd67-11e8-a360-85875bac0b1f_story.html", "date": "2018-10-11" }, { "title": "Country and Territory Ratings and Statuses, 1973-2024", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/Country_and_Territory_Ratings_and_Statuses_FIW_1973-2024.xlsx", "date": "2024" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-bank-melli-gm-building-1998", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "real-estate", "subject": "Iran", "country": "Iran", "beneficiary": "Trump Organization", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (1999)", "title": "Trump Organization collected rent from Iran's state-controlled Bank Melli at the GM Building, 1998 to 2003", "quote": "", "date": "1998-07", "venue": "Reported by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and the Center for Public Integrity", "era": "pre-politics", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "When the Trump Organization bought the General Motors Building on Fifth Avenue in July 1998, it inherited Bank Melli, one of Iran's largest state-controlled banks, as a tenant and kept the bank on until Trump lost control of the building in September 2003, according to public records reviewed by ICIJ and the Center for Public Integrity in a September 2016 report. The Treasury Department listed Bank Melli's GM Building office among institutions owned or controlled by the Iranian government from 1999 through 2003, and a court document reviewed by ICIJ indicated the bank's rent on more than 8,000 square feet may have topped half a million dollars a year. U.S. authorities alleged in 2007 that the bank had been used to obtain material for Iran's nuclear program and to send money to the Quds Force. The Treasury Department, the Trump campaign and Bank Melli all declined to say whether a license permitted the rent payments under the U.S. embargo. The Trump campaign declined to answer questions; spokeswoman Hope Hicks said Trump had committed to putting his assets in a blind trust, and longtime executive George Ross said he had no knowledge of the tenant. Freedom House rated Iran Not Free in every edition covering 1998 through 2003.", "sources": [ { "title": "Trump's organization did business with Iranian bank later linked to terrorism", "outlet": "Center for Public Integrity", "url": "https://publicintegrity.org/politics/trumps-organization-did-business-with-iranian-bank-later-linked-to-terrorism/", "date": "2016-10-03" }, { "title": "Trump's organization did business with Iranian bank later linked to terrorism", "outlet": "ICIJ", "url": "https://www.icij.org/inside-icij/2016/09/trumps-organization-did-business-iranian-bank-later-linked-terrorism/", "date": "2016-09-28" }, { "title": "Trump Group Did Business With Iranian Bank Later Linked to Terror", "outlet": "NBC News", "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-group-did-business-iranian-bank-later-linked-terror-n657636", "date": "2016-10-03" }, { "title": "Country and Territory Ratings and Statuses, FIW 1973-2024 (spreadsheet)", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/Country_and_Territory_Ratings_and_Statuses_FIW_1973-2024.xlsx", "date": "2024-02" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-saudi-world-tower-floor-2001", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "real-estate", "subject": "Saudi Arabia", "country": "Saudi Arabia", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump", "amount": "$4.5 million", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2001-02)", "title": "Kingdom of Saudi Arabia buys the 45th floor of Trump World Tower", "quote": "", "date": "2001", "venue": "Reported by The Washington Post and the Associated Press", "era": "pre-politics", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "In 2001 Trump sold the 45th floor of Trump World Tower, across from the United Nations in New York, to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Washington Post, CNBC and a 2024 House Oversight Democratic staff report give the price as $4.5 million; the Associated Press, citing the brokerage site Streeteasy, reported $12 million and called it the biggest purchase in the building to that point. The House report said Saudi Arabia still owned the floor throughout Trump's first term and that the units incurred $134,270 in base charges in 2018, the one year for which the committee obtained records. On October 16, 2018, two weeks after the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, Trump wrote on Twitter that \"I have no financial interests in Saudi Arabia.\" Freedom House rated Saudi Arabia Not Free in its 2001-02 survey.", "sources": [ { "title": "'I like them very much:' Trump has long-standing business ties with Saudis, who have boosted his hotels since he took office", "outlet": "The Washington Post (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20181012120453/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/i-like-them-very-much-trump-has-long-standing-business-ties-with-saudis-who-have-boosted-his-hotels-since-he-took-office/2018/10/11/0870df24-cd67-11e8-a360-85875bac0b1f_story.html", "date": "2018-10-11" }, { "title": "'I love the Saudis': Trump business ties to kingdom run deep", "outlet": "Associated Press (via Fox Business)", "url": "https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/i-love-the-saudis-trump-business-ties-to-kingdom-run-deep", "date": "2018-10-12" }, { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic staff report", "url": "https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU00/20240110/116733/HMKP-118-JU00-20240110-SD004.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Trump claims he has 'no financial interests in Saudi Arabia' — but he makes lots of money from it", "outlet": "CNBC", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/16/trump-says-no-financial-interests-in-saudi-arabia-but-makes-money.html", "date": "2018-10-16" }, { "title": "Country and Territory Ratings and Statuses, 1973-2024", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/Country_and_Territory_Ratings_and_Statuses_FIW_1973-2024.xlsx", "date": "2024" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-nakheel-dubai-tower-2005", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "real-estate", "subject": "United Arab Emirates", "country": "United Arab Emirates", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (Trump Organization)", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2005)", "title": "Trump lends his name to a Dubai tower planned by state-owned developer Nakheel", "quote": "", "date": "2005", "venue": "Reported by The New York Times, the Associated Press and The National", "era": "pre-politics", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "Trump made his first deal in Dubai in 2005, to build a hotel with a state-owned developer, The New York Times reported. The project, the Trump International Hotel & Tower on the Palm Jumeirah, was first announced in 2005 and unveiled at gala events in New York and Los Angeles in 2008, with Trump presiding over the Manhattan event, according to The National. The Associated Press described it as a 62-story tower with the state-backed developer Nakheel that fell victim to Dubai's financial crisis. Nakheel cancelled the project in February 2011, during a restructuring in which the Dubai government was injecting $8 billion into the company. None of the sources cited here reports what Trump was paid for the use of his name. Freedom House rated the United Arab Emirates Not Free in its 2005 report.", "sources": [ { "title": "Trump's Business Ties in the Gulf Raise Questions About His Allegiances", "outlet": "The New York Times (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20170619045715/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/17/world/middleeast/trumps-business-ties-in-persian-gulf-raise-questions-about-his-allegiances.html", "date": "2017-06-17" }, { "title": "AP Exclusive: Golf Club Shows Pitfalls of Trump Presidency", "outlet": "Associated Press (via Voice of America)", "url": "https://www.voanews.com/a/ap-exclusive-golf-club-shows-pitfalls-of-trump-prisidency/3661095.html", "date": "2017-01-03" }, { "title": "Nakheel cancels Trump project on Palm", "outlet": "The National", "url": "https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/property/nakheel-cancels-trump-project-on-palm-1.425287", "date": "2011-02-03" }, { "title": "Country and Territory Ratings and Statuses, 1973-2024", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/Country_and_Territory_Ratings_and_Statuses_FIW_1973-2024.xlsx", "date": "2024" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-gaddafi-seven-springs-tent-2009", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "real-estate", "subject": "Libya", "country": "Libya", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2009)", "title": "Trump rented part of his Seven Springs estate for Gaddafi's tent during the 2009 UN visit", "quote": "I made a lot of money with Qaddafi, if you remember.", "date": "2009-09-22", "venue": "Quote: CBS Face the Nation interview aired June 5, 2016; rental reported by The Journal News and others in September 2009", "era": "pre-politics", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "In September 2009, ahead of Muammar Gaddafi's first address to the UN General Assembly, the Libyan leader's entourage rented space at Trump's Seven Springs estate in Bedford, New York, and put up his Bedouin-style tent after Central Park and Englewood, New Jersey had refused it. Bedford officials issued a stop-work order on September 22, 2009 because the tent had no permit; the tent came down, went back up and was finally removed days later, and local officials said Gaddafi himself never made it to the property. At the time Trump told town officials, through a spokeswoman and to Reuters, that the property had been leased on a short-term basis to Middle Eastern partners who may or may not have had a relationship with Gaddafi. Trump later acknowledged the deal: in a May 2011 Fox News interview he said, \"I rented him a piece of land. He paid me more for one night than the land was worth for the whole year, or for two years, and then I didn't let him use the land,\" and on CBS's Face the Nation on June 5, 2016 he said he had \"made a lot of money with Qaddafi.\" The amount paid has not been reported. Freedom House rated Libya Not Free in its 2009 and 2010 editions.", "sources": [ { "title": "The strange tale of how Trump made a \"fortune\" off Qaddafi", "outlet": "CBS News", "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-strange-tale-of-how-donald-trump-made-a-lot-of-money-with-qaddafi/", "date": "2016-06-05" }, { "title": "Kaine accurately recalls the time Gadhafi had a tent put up on Trump's estate", "outlet": "PolitiFact", "url": "https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2016/sep/15/tim-kaine/kaine-accurately-recalls-time-gadhafi-had-tent-put/", "date": "2016-09-15" }, { "title": "Country and Territory Ratings and Statuses, FIW 1973-2024 (spreadsheet)", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/Country_and_Territory_Ratings_and_Statuses_FIW_1973-2024.xlsx", "date": "2024-02" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-baku-tower-license-2012", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "real-estate", "subject": "Azerbaijan", "country": "Azerbaijan", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (Trump Organization)", "amount": "$2.8 million reported in financial disclosures, plus a $2.5 million payment in 2012", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2012)", "title": "Trump Organization licenses its name to a Baku tower developed by the family of Azerbaijan's transport minister", "quote": "We had no equity. We didn’t control the project. The flow of funds is in the wrong direction.", "speaker": "Alan Garten, Trump Organization chief legal officer", "date": "2012-05", "venue": "Interview with The New Yorker, published March 2017", "era": "pre-politics", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "The Trump Organization finalized contracts in May 2012 to license the Trump name to the Trump International Hotel & Tower Baku and to manage the hotel, and announced the project on November 4, 2014 with Anar Mammadov of Garant Holding. Anar Mammadov is the son of Ziya Mammadov, Azerbaijan's transportation minister from 2002 until February 2017. The New Yorker reported in March 2017 that the contracts were signed by the minister's brother Elton Mammadov, then a member of parliament, and cited a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty investigation that found the complex was built partly on land controlled by the transportation ministry. The magazine reported that Trump's public filings showed $2.8 million from the deal and that company documents showed a further $2.5 million payment in 2012. The hotel never opened, and the company said in December 2016 that it had ended the deal. Alan Garten, the company's chief legal officer, said it was \"merely a licensor\" and that its due diligence had not discovered \"any red flags.\"", "sources": [ { "title": "Donald Trump’s Worst Deal", "outlet": "The New Yorker", "url": "https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/13/donald-trumps-worst-deal", "date": "2017-03-05" }, { "title": "TRUMP HOTEL COLLECTION™ Announces Trump® International Hotel & Tower Baku", "outlet": "PR Newswire (Trump Hotel Collection)", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/trump-hotel-collection-announces-trump-international-hotel--tower-baku-281425361.html", "date": "2014-11-04" }, { "title": "Trump Once Did a Deal With Oligarchs Allegedly Linked to the Revolutionary Guard", "outlet": "Mother Jones", "url": "https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/03/trump-baku-iran-irgc/", "date": "2026-03-16" }, { "title": "Country and Territory Ratings and Statuses, 1973-2024", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/Country_and_Territory_Ratings_and_Statuses_FIW_1973-2024.xlsx", "date": "2024" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-miss-universe-moscow-2013", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "Russia", "country": "Russia", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (co-owner of the Miss Universe Organization)", "amount": "approximately $6 million (licensing fee)", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2013)", "title": "Aras Agalarov's Crocus Group pays about $6 million to host Trump's Miss Universe pageant in Moscow", "quote": "I'm in Moscow for Miss Universe tonight - picking a winner is very hard, they are all winners. Total sellout of arena. Big night in Russia!", "date": "2013-11-09", "venue": "Twitter", "era": "pre-politics", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "The Crocus Group, owned by the developer Aras Agalarov, signed a contract in June 2013 with the Miss Universe Organization, which Trump had co-owned since 1996, to stage the pageant at Crocus City Hall in Moscow on November 9, 2013. The Senate intelligence committee reported in 2020 that Crocus paid approximately $6 million as a licensing fee and incurred about $6 million more in expenses, and that the organization's president called it one of its most lucrative deals. The committee found that Agalarov has \"significant ties to the Russian government\" and access to President Vladimir Putin; Putin presented him with the Order of Honor on October 29, 2013. The Agalarovs told the pageant's organizers that the financing would be strictly private. During the trip Trump was the guest at an event hosted by Agalarov and the state-owned Sberbank, and he wrote afterward to Sberbank's chairman, Herman Gref, that he had done \"an absolutely fantastic job.\" A meeting with Putin that Trump had sought did not take place.", "sources": [ { "title": "Report of the Select Committee on Intelligence, United States Senate, on Russian Active Measures Campaigns and Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election, Volume 5: Counterintelligence Threats and Vulnerabilities", "outlet": "U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence", "url": "https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/sites-default-files-documents-report-volume5.pdf", "date": "2020-08-18" }, { "title": "Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election", "outlet": "U.S. Department of Justice, Special Counsel's Office", "url": "https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco/file/1373816/dl?inline", "date": "2019-04-18" }, { "title": "Tweet by @realDonaldTrump, 2013-11-09", "outlet": "Twitter", "url": "https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/399171340042661889", "date": "2013-11-09" }, { "title": "Country and Territory Ratings and Statuses, 1973-2024", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/Country_and_Territory_Ratings_and_Statuses_FIW_1973-2024.xlsx", "date": "2024" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-putin-lacquer-box-gift-2013", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "Russia", "country": "Russia", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2013)", "title": "Putin sends Trump a letter and a lacquer box after the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow", "quote": "My father just received a letter and gift for your dad from Mr. Putin.", "speaker": "Emin Agalarov", "date": "2013-11-21", "venue": "Email to Donald Trump Jr., November 21, 2013, quoted in the Senate intelligence committee's 2020 report", "era": "pre-politics", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "On November 21, 2013, Emin Agalarov emailed Donald Trump Jr. images of a letter and a gift that he said his father, Aras Agalarov, had received from President Vladimir Putin for Donald Trump, according to the Senate intelligence committee's 2020 report. The gift was a Fedoskino-style lacquer box; the report gives no value for it. The letter, dated November 19, 2013, congratulated Trump on holding the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow and said Putin hoped they could talk on a future visit, after a meeting planned during the pageant did not take place. The committee reported that Agalarov's wife, Irina Agalarova, brought the package to the United States and that Trump Jr. appeared to have passed the email and photographs to his father.", "sources": [ { "title": "Report of the Select Committee on Intelligence, United States Senate, on Russian Active Measures Campaigns and Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election, Volume 5: Counterintelligence Threats and Vulnerabilities", "outlet": "U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence", "url": "https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/sites-default-files-documents-report-volume5.pdf", "date": "2020-08-18" }, { "title": "Country and Territory Ratings and Statuses, 1973-2024", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/Country_and_Territory_Ratings_and_Statuses_FIW_1973-2024.xlsx", "date": "2024" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-trump-tower-moscow-letter-of-intent-2015", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "real-estate", "subject": "Russia", "country": "Russia", "beneficiary": "Trump Organization (Trump Acquisition, LLC)", "amount": "$4 million up-front fee plus percentages of sales and revenue (proposed terms; project not built)", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2015)", "title": "Trump signs letter of intent for a Trump Tower in Moscow while running for president", "quote": "", "date": "2015-10-28", "venue": "Documented in the Mueller report (2019); first reported in 2017", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "Trump signed a letter of intent dated October 28, 2015 for a Trump-branded tower in Moscow with I.C. Expert Investment Company, a Russian developer headed by Andrey Rozov. According to the Mueller report, the terms gave the Trump Organization a $4 million up-front fee before groundbreaking, 1% to 5% of condominium sales, 3% of rental and other revenue, and hotel management fees. Felix Sater, who brokered the deal, told Michael Cohen on October 12, 2015 that Andrey Kostin, the head of VTB Bank, would finance it, according to the Senate intelligence committee; the U.S. Treasury had sanctioned VTB as a state-owned bank in July 2014, and BuzzFeed News reported that VTB officials denied taking part in any negotiations. BuzzFeed News reported on November 29, 2018, citing four people including Sater, that the company planned to give President Vladimir Putin a $50 million penthouse in the tower, and said it was not clear whether Trump knew of that plan. The tower was not built. On January 11, 2017 Trump wrote on Twitter: \"I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA - NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!\"", "sources": [ { "title": "Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election", "outlet": "U.S. Department of Justice, Special Counsel's Office", "url": "https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco/file/1373816/dl?inline", "date": "2019-04-18" }, { "title": "Report of the Select Committee on Intelligence, United States Senate, on Russian Active Measures Campaigns and Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election, Volume 5: Counterintelligence Threats and Vulnerabilities", "outlet": "U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence", "url": "https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/sites-default-files-documents-report-volume5.pdf", "date": "2020-08-18" }, { "title": "The Trump Organization Planned To Give Vladimir Putin The $50 Million Penthouse In Trump Tower Moscow", "outlet": "BuzzFeed News", "url": "https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/anthonycormier/the-trump-organization-planned-to-give-vladimir-putin-the", "date": "2018-11-29" }, { "title": "Announcement of Additional Treasury Sanctions on Russian Financial Institutions and on a Defense Technology Entity", "outlet": "U.S. Department of the Treasury", "url": "https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jl2590", "date": "2014-07-29" }, { "title": "Tweet by @realDonaldTrump, 2017-01-11", "outlet": "Twitter", "url": "https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/819159806489591809", "date": "2017-01-11" }, { "title": "Country and Territory Ratings and Statuses, 1973-2024", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/Country_and_Territory_Ratings_and_Statuses_FIW_1973-2024.xlsx", "date": "2024" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-cohen-kremlin-outreach-2016", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "real-estate", "subject": "Russia", "country": "Russia", "beneficiary": "Trump Organization", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2016)", "title": "Trump Organization executive asks Putin's press office for help with the Trump Tower Moscow project", "quote": "As this project is too important, I am hereby requesting your assistance.", "speaker": "Michael Cohen", "date": "2016-01-14", "venue": "Email to the office of Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov, quoted in the Mueller report", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "Michael Cohen, then an executive vice president of the Trump Organization, emailed the office of Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin's press secretary, on January 14 and 16, 2016 to ask for help with the stalled Trump Tower Moscow project. On January 20, 2016 he spoke for about 20 minutes with Peskov's assistant, Elena Poliakova, and asked for help securing land and financing, according to the Mueller report. Cohen recalled briefing Trump about the call and updating him on the project as late as June 2016. In May 2016 Felix Sater relayed an invitation for Cohen to attend the St. Petersburg economic forum as Peskov's guest; Cohen did not go. The special counsel's office did not identify evidence of direct follow-up by the Russian government. Cohen later admitted he had falsely told Congress that the project ended in January 2016 and that he recalled no response from Peskov's office.", "sources": [ { "title": "Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election", "outlet": "U.S. Department of Justice, Special Counsel's Office", "url": "https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco/file/1373816/dl?inline", "date": "2019-04-18" }, { "title": "United States v. Michael Cohen, Information", "outlet": "U.S. Department of Justice, Special Counsel's Office", "url": "https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco/file/1115596/dl?inline", "date": "2018-11-29" }, { "title": "The Trump Organization Planned To Give Vladimir Putin The $50 Million Penthouse In Trump Tower Moscow", "outlet": "BuzzFeed News", "url": "https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/anthonycormier/the-trump-organization-planned-to-give-vladimir-putin-the", "date": "2018-11-29" }, { "title": "Country and Territory Ratings and Statuses, 1973-2024", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/Country_and_Territory_Ratings_and_Statuses_FIW_1973-2024.xlsx", "date": "2024" }, { "title": "Russia: Freedom in the World 2017 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/russia/freedom-world/2017", "date": "2017" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-agalarov-birthday-painting-2016", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "Russia", "country": "Russia", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump", "amount": "$100,000 (reported value of a set of three paintings, one of which was delivered)", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2016)", "title": "Aras and Emin Agalarov send Trump a painting from Russia as a birthday gift during the campaign", "quote": "The painting you sent me is truly fantastic and a very thoughtful gesture!", "date": "2016-06-13", "venue": "Letter to Emin and Aras Agalarov dated June 17, 2016, reproduced in the Senate intelligence committee's 2020 report", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "On June 10, 2016, the day after the Trump Tower meeting that the Agalarovs helped arrange, Rob Goldstone told Trump's assistant that Emin and Aras Agalarov had \"a fairly sizable birthday gift\" for Trump. Agalarov employees delivered a painting that had been brought from Russia to Trump Tower, and emails indicate it arrived on June 13, 2016, according to the Senate intelligence committee. Goldstone told the committee he had been told the set of three paintings was worth $100,000; the other two were never delivered. Trump thanked the Agalarovs in a letter dated June 17, 2016. The committee found that Aras Agalarov has significant ties to the Russian government and access to President Vladimir Putin, and it also reported that Trump sought Emin Agalarov's address in July 2014 to thank him for a watch.", "sources": [ { "title": "Report of the Select Committee on Intelligence, United States Senate, on Russian Active Measures Campaigns and Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election, Volume 5: Counterintelligence Threats and Vulnerabilities", "outlet": "U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence", "url": "https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/sites-default-files-documents-report-volume5.pdf", "date": "2020-08-18" }, { "title": "Country and Territory Ratings and Statuses, 1973-2024", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/Country_and_Territory_Ratings_and_Statuses_FIW_1973-2024.xlsx", "date": "2024" }, { "title": "Russia: Freedom in the World 2017 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/russia/freedom-world/2017", "date": "2017" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-hainan-airlines-las-vegas-2016", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "China", "country": "China", "beneficiary": "Trump International Hotel Las Vegas (Trump Organization)", "amount": "$195,662", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2017)", "title": "State-owned Hainan Airlines began a 14-month stay at Trump's Las Vegas hotel days before the 2016 election", "quote": "", "date": "2016-11-04", "venue": "Mazars USA accounting records cited in the House Oversight Democrats' report \"White House for Sale\"", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "According to accounting records that Mazars USA produced to the House Oversight Committee, an account in the name of \"Hainan Airlines Holding Company Li[mited]\" incurred $195,662 in charges at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas between November 4, 2016 and January 1, 2018, the largest single expense on the two hotel ledgers the committee obtained. The Democratic staff report released January 4, 2024 describes Hainan Airlines as a state-owned enterprise whose actual controller is the Hainan provincial government's state-owned assets commission, and notes that its parent HNA Group was seeking U.S. regulatory approvals from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States during 2017, when HNA executives met Vice President Pence and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin. The records do not specify what services were provided over the 14 months. In response to the report, the Trump Organization said it had donated more than $450,000 in estimated foreign government profits to the U.S. Treasury during Trump's term, and Eric Trump said no president had been tougher on China. Freedom House rated China Not Free in its 2016 and 2017 editions.", "sources": [ { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic staff", "url": "https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2024-01-04.COA%20DEMS%20-%20Mazars%20Report.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "China spent over $5.5 million at Trump properties while he was in office, documents show", "outlet": "CNN", "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/04/politics/trump-properties-china-foreign-payments", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "China: Freedom in the World 2017 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/china/freedom-world/2017", "date": "2017" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-russia-trump-trademarks-2016", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "Russia", "country": "Russia", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (Trump Organization)", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2016)", "title": "Russia's trademark agency renews six Trump trademarks, four of them registered on Election Day 2016", "quote": "The company will not be seeking any new business opportunities in Russia", "speaker": "Alan Garten, Trump Organization chief legal counsel", "date": "2016-11-08", "venue": "Statement to The New York Times, published June 18, 2017", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "Rospatent, the Russian government agency for intellectual property, granted new 10-year terms for six Trump trademarks in approvals that ran from April to December 2016, The New York Times reported on June 18, 2017 from the agency's records. Four of the approvals were registered on November 8, 2016, the day of the U.S. presidential election. The trademarks had been obtained between 1996 and 2007 for hotel and branding projects that were never built. Alan Garten of the Trump Organization said the renewals were sought \"to prevent third parties from infringing on the company’s intellectual property rights\" and that there were no plans to use them. A trademark lawyer told the Times that approval would normally not be a problem if a renewal was unchallenged. Rospatent did not answer the newspaper's questions.", "sources": [ { "title": "Russia Renewed Unused Trump Trademarks in 2016", "outlet": "The New York Times (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180108093224/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/18/us/politics/russia-trump-trademarks.html", "date": "2017-06-18" }, { "title": "Russia renewed Trump Organization trademarks during election: report", "outlet": "The Hill", "url": "https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/338315-russia-renewed-trump-organization-trademarks-during-2016/", "date": "2017-06-18" }, { "title": "Country and Territory Ratings and Statuses, 1973-2024", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/Country_and_Territory_Ratings_and_Statuses_FIW_1973-2024.xlsx", "date": "2024" }, { "title": "Russia: Freedom in the World 2017 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/russia/freedom-world/2017", "date": "2017" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-saudi-lobbyists-trump-hotel-2016", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "Saudi Arabia", "country": "Saudi Arabia", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (Trump International Hotel, Washington)", "amount": "$270,044", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2016)", "title": "Lobbyists for Saudi Arabia spend about $270,000 at Trump's Washington hotel after the 2016 election", "quote": "Absolutely not. It had nothing to do with that. Not one bit", "speaker": "Michael Gibson, an organizer of the trips", "date": "2016-12", "venue": "Interview with The Washington Post; spending disclosed in a Foreign Agents Registration Act filing", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "Qorvis MSLGroup, a Washington firm that represents the Saudi government, reported in a Foreign Agents Registration Act filing for October 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017 that it paid the Trump International Hotel $190,272.87 for lodging, $78,204.02 for catering and $1,568 for parking. The Washington Post reported that the money housed six groups of military veterans who were flown to Washington to lobby against the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, that the bookings moved to Trump's hotel in December 2016, and that some veterans said they were not told of the Saudi role. Organizer Michael Gibson told the Post the hotel was chosen because it offered a discount and had rooms, not to curry favor with Trump; hotel executives said they were unaware at the time that Saudi Arabia was paying. Qorvis declined to comment and the Saudi Embassy did not respond to the Post. The attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia cited the payments in a lawsuit under the Constitution's emoluments clauses; ABC News reported that the Supreme Court dismissed the emoluments suits in 2021 because Trump was no longer in office. Freedom House rated Saudi Arabia Not Free in its 2016 and 2017 reports.", "sources": [ { "title": "Supplemental Statement Pursuant to the Foreign Agents Registration Act: MSLGROUP Americas, Inc. d/b/a Qorvis MSLGROUP, six month period ending 03/31/2017", "outlet": "U.S. Department of Justice, FARA Registration Unit", "url": "https://efile.fara.gov/docs/5483-Supplemental-Statement-20170531-25.pdf", "date": "2017-05-31" }, { "title": "Saudi-funded lobbyist paid for 500 rooms at Trump's hotel after 2016 election", "outlet": "The Washington Post (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20181207010338/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/saudi-funded-lobbyist-paid-for-500-rooms-at-trumps-hotel-after-2016-election/2018/12/05/29603a64-f417-11e8-bc79-68604ed88993_story.html", "date": "2018-12-05" }, { "title": "'I love the Saudis': Trump business ties to kingdom run deep", "outlet": "Associated Press (via Fox Business)", "url": "https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/i-love-the-saudis-trump-business-ties-to-kingdom-run-deep", "date": "2018-10-12" }, { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic staff report", "url": "https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU00/20240110/116733/HMKP-118-JU00-20240110-SD004.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Trump's businesses received millions from foreign entities during his presidency, House report says", "outlet": "ABC News", "url": "https://abcnews.com/US/trumps-businesses-received-millions-foreign-entities-presidency-house/story?id=106106433", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Country and Territory Ratings and Statuses, 1973-2024", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/Country_and_Territory_Ratings_and_Statuses_FIW_1973-2024.xlsx", "date": "2024" }, { "title": "Saudi Arabia: Freedom in the World 2017 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/saudi-arabia/freedom-world/2017", "date": "2017" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-bahrain-national-day-hotel-2016", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "Bahrain", "country": "Bahrain", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (Trump International Hotel, Washington)", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2016)", "title": "Bahrain's embassy holds its national day reception at Trump's Washington hotel", "quote": "", "date": "2016-12-07", "venue": "Reported by Politico from an embassy invitation", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "On November 29, 2016, three weeks after Trump's election, Politico obtained an invitation from Bahrain's ambassador, Abdulla Al Khalifa, to a national day reception at the Trump International Hotel in Washington on December 7, 2016. A Washington Post list of spending at the hotel records the event as a National Day celebration paid for by the embassy of Bahrain. The Associated Press reported that Rep. James McGovern of Massachusetts wrote to Trump urging him not to accept money from the Bahraini monarchy for use of the hotel, and that the embassy did not reply to questions. A hotel representative told Politico that the company never discusses individual guests or groups. None of the sources cited here reports the amount paid. Freedom House rated Bahrain Not Free in its 2016 report.", "sources": [ { "title": "Bahrain to host event at Trump's D.C. hotel, raising ethical concerns", "outlet": "Politico (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20161130172355/http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/trump-bahrain-hotel-dc-231941", "date": "2016-11-29" }, { "title": "Bahrain to host anniversary party at Trump's DC hotel", "outlet": "The Hill", "url": "https://thehill.com/homenews/307910-bahrain-to-host-anniversary-party-at-trump-international/", "date": "2016-11-29" }, { "title": "Why Donald Trump's Washington, D.C. Hotel Is So Controversial", "outlet": "Associated Press (via Fortune)", "url": "https://fortune.com/2016/12/07/donald-trump-hotel-washington-dc/", "date": "2016-12-07" }, { "title": "Tracking who is spending money at President Trump's D.C. hotel", "outlet": "The Washington Post (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20190101035312/https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/politics/trump-hotel-events/", "date": "2018" }, { "title": "Country and Territory Ratings and Statuses, 1973-2024", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/Country_and_Territory_Ratings_and_Statuses_FIW_1973-2024.xlsx", "date": "2024" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-veb-gorkov-kushner-gifts-2016", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "Russia", "country": "Russia", "beneficiary": "Jared Kushner", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2016)", "title": "Head of Russian state bank VEB gives Jared Kushner two gifts at a meeting during the transition", "quote": "In fact, I gave my assistant these gifts to formally register them with the transition office", "speaker": "Jared Kushner", "date": "2016-12-13", "venue": "Prepared statement to congressional committees, released July 24, 2017", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "Jared Kushner met Sergey Gorkov, the head of the Russian state-owned bank Vnesheconombank (VEB), in Manhattan on December 13, 2016, at the request of the Russian ambassador. VEB had been under U.S. Treasury sanctions since 2014. According to the Mueller report, Gorkov gave Kushner a painting and a bag of soil from the town in Belarus where Kushner's family originated. Kushner said the meeting was diplomatic and that his companies and business were not discussed; VEB said in 2017 that Gorkov met him as head of Kushner Companies as part of a series of business meetings. The report noted that Kushner Companies then had a debt coming due on 666 Fifth Avenue. It said the investigation did not resolve the conflict between the two accounts and did not identify evidence of substantive follow-up after the meeting.", "sources": [ { "title": "Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election", "outlet": "U.S. Department of Justice, Special Counsel's Office", "url": "https://www.justice.gov/archives/sco/file/1373816/dl?inline", "date": "2019-04-18" }, { "title": "Full text: Jared Kushner’s statement on Russia", "outlet": "CNN", "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2017/07/24/politics/jared-kushner-statement-russia-2016-election/index.html", "date": "2017-07-24" }, { "title": "Country and Territory Ratings and Statuses, 1973-2024", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/sites/default/files/2024-02/Country_and_Territory_Ratings_and_Statuses_FIW_1973-2024.xlsx", "date": "2024" }, { "title": "Russia: Freedom in the World 2017 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/russia/freedom-world/2017", "date": "2017" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-azerbaijan-embassy-hanukkah-party-2016", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "Azerbaijan", "country": "Azerbaijan", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (Trump International Hotel, Washington)", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2016)", "title": "Azerbaijan's embassy co-hosts a Hanukkah party at Trump's Washington hotel during the transition", "quote": "", "date": "2016-12-14", "venue": "Reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, December 3, 2016", "era": "campaign-2016", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "The Embassy of Azerbaijan and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations co-hosted a Hanukkah party at the Trump International Hotel in Washington on December 14, 2016, five weeks before Trump took office. Malcolm Hoenlein of the Conference told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the embassy had rented the location because of its proximity to the White House. Eight Jewish organizations declined to attend, and human rights groups demonstrated outside the hotel. The cost was not reported. A January 2024 report by Democratic staff of the House Oversight Committee said records from Trump's accounting firm indicate that Azerbaijan had an account at a Trump-owned property after his election, without showing amounts or purposes. The Trump Organization ended its licensing deal for a tower in Baku the same month.", "sources": [ { "title": "Azerbaijan’s embassy to co-host Hanukkah party at Trump’s DC hotel", "outlet": "Jewish Telegraphic Agency", "url": "https://www.jta.org/2016/12/03/politics/azerbaijans-embassy-to-co-host-hanukkah-party-at-trumps-d-c-hotel", "date": "2016-12-03" }, { "title": "Azerbaijani Embassy To Host Party At Trump Hotel In Washington", "outlet": "Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty", "url": "https://www.rferl.org/a/azerbaijan-embassy-host-hanukkah-party-trump-hotel-washington-/28158546.html", "date": "2016-12-06" }, { "title": "Freedom Now Protests Trump Hotel Hanukkah Party Co-Hosted by Azerbaijani Embassy", "outlet": "The Armenian Weekly", "url": "https://armenianweekly.com/2016/12/15/freedom-now-azerbaijani/", "date": "2016-12-15" }, { "title": "Anti-Trump Boycott of Azerbaijan-Hosted Hanukkah Party Will Harm Muslim-Jewish Ties, Leaders Say", "outlet": "The Algemeiner (JNS)", "url": "https://www.algemeiner.com/2016/12/13/anti-trump-boycott-of-azerbaijan-hosted-hanukkah-party-will-harm-muslim-jewish-ties-leaders-say/", "date": "2016-12-13" }, { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic Staff", "url": "https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2024-01-04.COA%20DEMS%20-%20Mazars%20Report.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Donald Trump’s Worst Deal", "outlet": "The New Yorker", "url": "https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/13/donald-trumps-worst-deal", "date": "2017-03-05" }, { "title": "Azerbaijan: Freedom in the World 2017 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/azerbaijan/freedom-world/2017", "date": "2017" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-icbc-trump-tower-rent-2017", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "real-estate", "subject": "China", "country": "China", "beneficiary": "Trump Tower Commercial LLC (Trump Organization)", "amount": "$5,357,495 (estimated rent, February 2017 to October 31, 2019)", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2017)", "title": "State-owned ICBC paid an estimated $5.36 million in Trump Tower rent during Trump's first term", "quote": "I love China. The biggest bank in the world is from China. You know where their United States headquarters is located? In this building, in Trump Tower.", "date": "2017-02", "venue": "Quote: campaign announcement at Trump Tower, June 16, 2015; rent figures from an SEC debt prospectus cited by House Oversight Democrats", "era": "term-1", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, whose controlling shareholders are China's Ministry of Finance and Central Huijin, signed a lease for office space in Trump Tower in 2008 and agreed to pay $1,948,180 a year in base rent through October 31, 2019, according to a debt prospectus filed with the SEC. The House Oversight Democrats' January 2024 report estimated on that basis that ICBC paid at least $5,357,495 to Trump Tower Commercial LLC between February 2017 and the lease expiration on October 31, 2019, the largest single foreign government payment the report identified. The Justice Department alleged in 2016 that ICBC was among Chinese banks that had provided accounts to a company accused of conspiring with a North Korean bank to evade sanctions; the report noted that the Trump administration took no formal action against ICBC despite calls from House Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce in 2017 to target Chinese banks doing business with North Korea. In October 2019 Eric Trump said the bank had decided to keep \"a couple of floors\" in Trump Tower, and Forbes later reported ICBC left the building in the first half of 2021. Mazars USA told the committee it found no ICBC records in its files. The Trump Organization said it donated more than $450,000 in estimated foreign government profits to the Treasury during the term. Freedom House rated China Not Free in every report from 2017 through 2020.", "sources": [ { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic staff", "url": "https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2024-01-04.COA%20DEMS%20-%20Mazars%20Report.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "China spent over $5.5 million at Trump properties while he was in office, documents show", "outlet": "CNN", "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/04/politics/trump-properties-china-foreign-payments", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Remarks Announcing Candidacy for President in New York City", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-announcing-candidacy-for-president-new-york-city", "date": "2015-06-16" }, { "title": "China: Freedom in the World 2018 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/china/freedom-world/2018", "date": "2018" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-china-construction-trademark-2017", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "China", "country": "China", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (Trump Organization)", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2017)", "title": "China registered the Trump construction-services trademark after a ten-year fight, weeks into his presidency", "quote": "", "date": "2017-02-14", "venue": "China Trademark Office registration, reported by AP and CNN", "era": "term-1", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "On February 14, 2017, China's Trademark Office formally registered a trademark for Trump-branded construction services, ending a legal fight that Trump had begun in 2006 and repeatedly lost in Chinese courts. China's trademark review board invalidated a rival claim in September 2016, during the campaign, awarded the mark to the Trump Organization in November 2016 after the election, and registered it after the three-month objection period ran out. The Chinese Embassy in Washington told CNN the case was handled in compliance with China's trademark law. Trump Organization chief legal officer Alan Garten said the registration was \"a natural result\" of more than a decade of enforcement efforts that took place years before Trump announced his candidacy. Ethics lawyers including Norman Eisen and Richard Painter argued that a trademark granted by a foreign government without congressional consent could violate the Foreign Emoluments Clause; Democratic senators protested and questioned Secretary of State Rex Tillerson about possible political influence. Trump had pledged in January 2017 to make no new foreign deals while in office. Freedom House rated China Not Free in its 2017 report.", "sources": [ { "title": "China grants Trump a long-awaited trademark", "outlet": "WTVG 13abc (CNN)", "url": "https://www.13abc.com/content/news/China-grants-Trump-a-trademark-414177573.html", "date": "2017-02-19" }, { "title": "China grants preliminary approval to 38 new Trump trademarks", "outlet": "Associated Press via FOX 17", "url": "https://www.fox17online.com/2017/03/08/china-grants-preliminary-approval-to-38-new-trump-trademarks", "date": "2017-03-08" }, { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic staff", "url": "https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2024-01-04.COA%20DEMS%20-%20Mazars%20Report.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "China: Freedom in the World 2017 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/china/freedom-world/2017", "date": "2017" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-china-38-trademarks-2017", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "China", "country": "China", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump and DTTM Operations LLC", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2017)", "title": "China gave preliminary approval to 38 Trump trademarks covering hotels, golf clubs and other services", "quote": "", "date": "2017-03-06", "venue": "China Trademark Office publications, reported by the Associated Press", "era": "term-1", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "China's Trademark Office published provisional approvals for 38 Trump trademarks on February 27 and March 6, 2017, covering hotels, golf clubs, spa and massage services, insurance, finance, real estate, restaurants, bars and a class that includes bodyguard, social escort and concierge services, the Associated Press reported on March 8, 2017 from public documents. Trump's lawyers had applied for the marks in April 2016; all but three were in Trump's own name, with three Scion hotel marks registered to DTTM Operations LLC, a company Trump owned 100 percent as of May 2016. Formal registration followed if no one objected within 90 days. Hong Kong trademark consultant Dan Plane told AP he had never seen so many applications approved so quickly, while a Beijing lawyer who has represented the Trump Organization said she saw no special treatment. Trump Organization chief legal officer Alan Garten said the registrations were \"a natural result of those longstanding, diligent efforts\" and that the company had no plans to operate an escort service in China. Senator Ben Cardin said Beijing had come to appreciate the return on \"a positive, personal business relationship with the President.\" Freedom House rated China Not Free in its 2017 report.", "sources": [ { "title": "China grants preliminary approval to 38 new Trump trademarks", "outlet": "Associated Press via FOX 17", "url": "https://www.fox17online.com/2017/03/08/china-grants-preliminary-approval-to-38-new-trump-trademarks", "date": "2017-03-08" }, { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic staff", "url": "https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2024-01-04.COA%20DEMS%20-%20Mazars%20Report.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "China: Freedom in the World 2017 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/china/freedom-world/2017", "date": "2017" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-ivanka-trademarks-xi-dinner-2017", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "China", "country": "China", "beneficiary": "Ivanka Trump (Ivanka Trump Marks LLC)", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2017)", "title": "Ivanka Trump's company won provisional approval for three Chinese trademarks the day she dined with Xi Jinping", "quote": "", "date": "2017-04-06", "venue": "China Trademark Office records, reported by the Associated Press", "era": "term-1", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "On April 6, 2017, Ivanka Trump's company won provisional approval from China's Trademark Office for three trademarks giving it exclusive rights to sell Ivanka-branded jewelry, bags and spa services in China, the Associated Press reported on April 18, 2017. That evening she and Jared Kushner sat beside Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife at the Mar-a-Lago summit dinner. Ivanka Trump, then an unpaid White House adviser, still owned the brand, which she had placed in a family-run trust valued at more than $50 million; her attorney Jamie Gorelick said she would not weigh in on business strategy but retained authority to terminate agreements that created a conflict. The brand said Ivanka Trump did not sign off on the applications and that they were \"not necessarily an indication\" of plans to launch products in a given territory. AP said there was no sign the approvals were unusually swift, and China's Trademark Office did not respond to a request for comment. Former Bush ethics lawyer Richard Painter urged her to stop seeking trademarks while in government. Freedom House rated China Not Free in its 2017 report.", "sources": [ { "title": "Ivanka's biz prospers as politics mixes with business", "outlet": "Associated Press via CNBC", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/18/ivankas-biz-prospers-as-politics-mixes-with-business.html", "date": "2017-04-18" }, { "title": "Ivanka Trump's Chinese Trademarks", "outlet": "Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington", "url": "https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/ivanka-trump-trademarks/", "date": "2018-11-05" }, { "title": "China: Freedom in the World 2017 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/china/freedom-world/2017", "date": "2017" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-china-embassy-trump-hotel-2017", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "China", "country": "China", "beneficiary": "Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C. (Trump Organization)", "amount": "$19,391 (advance deposit)", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2017)", "title": "The Chinese Embassy paid a $19,391 deposit for a delegation stay at Trump's Washington hotel", "quote": "", "date": "2017-08-27", "venue": "Mazars USA accounting records cited in the House Oversight Democrats' report \"White House for Sale\"", "era": "term-1", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "A document produced to the House Oversight Committee by Mazars USA shows an \"Embassy of China Delegation\" made an advance deposit of $19,391 to the Trump International Hotel in Washington for an arrival date of August 27, 2017, according to the committee Democrats' January 4, 2024 report. The ledger does not record the length of the stay or the total spent, and the report says the committee could not obtain more because Chairman James Comer released Mazars from further production. Together with ICBC's Trump Tower rent and Hainan Airlines' Las Vegas stay, the report counted at least $5,572,548 in payments from China's government and state-owned entities to Trump businesses during his term, the largest of any country identified. Trump traveled to Beijing on November 8 to 10, 2017, where he said he did not blame China for the trade imbalance. Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told CNN that China does not comment on U.S. domestic politics and requires Chinese companies overseas to follow local law. The Trump Organization said it donated more than $450,000 in estimated foreign government profits to the Treasury during the term. Freedom House rated China Not Free in its 2017 report.", "sources": [ { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic staff", "url": "https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2024-01-04.COA%20DEMS%20-%20Mazars%20Report.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "China spent over $5.5 million at Trump properties while he was in office, documents show", "outlet": "CNN", "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/04/politics/trump-properties-china-foreign-payments", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Oversight Democrats Release Report Proving Trump Pocketed Millions From At Least 20 Foreign Governments As President", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democrats", "url": "https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/oversight-democrats-release-report-proving-trump-pocketed-millions-from-at-least", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "China: Freedom in the World 2017 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/china/freedom-world/2017", "date": "2017" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-drc-trump-hotel-stays-2017", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "DR Congo", "country": "Democratic Republic of the Congo", "beneficiary": "Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C. (Trump Organization)", "amount": "$25,171", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2017)", "title": "Kabila government envoys and the chairman of state miner Gecamines spent $25,171 at Trump's Washington hotel", "quote": "", "date": "2017-09-10", "venue": "Mazars USA accounting records cited in the House Oversight Democrats' report \"White House for Sale\"", "era": "term-1", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "Between September 2017 and March 2018, representatives of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's government spent $25,171 over six stays at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, according to Mazars USA records cited in the House Oversight Democrats' January 2024 report. The stays included four by Raymond Tshibanda, President Joseph Kabila's special envoy to the United States (September 10 to 16, 2017, $6,439; September 25, 2017, $1,356; November 26 to December 4, 2017, $8,638; December 20 to 21, 2017, $1,496), one by Ambassador Francois Balumuene (October 12, 2017, $1,600) and one by Albert Yuma, chairman of the state-owned mining company Gecamines (March 13 to 16, 2018, $5,642). Foreign Agents Registration Act filings show the Livingston Group arranged meetings for Tshibanda with State Department officials on September 14, 2017 and for a DRC delegation with U.S. officials and members of Congress from November 28 to December 1, 2017, as Kabila remained in power past the constitutional end of his term. The report notes that in July 2017 the U.S. threatened further sanctions on those obstructing a transition, and that UN Ambassador Nikki Haley visited Kabila in late 2017 and pressed him to cede power. Freedom House rated the DRC Not Free in its 2017 and 2018 reports.", "sources": [ { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic staff", "url": "https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2024-01-04.COA%20DEMS%20-%20Mazars%20Report.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Oversight Democrats Release Report Proving Trump Pocketed Millions From At Least 20 Foreign Governments As President", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democrats", "url": "https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/oversight-democrats-release-report-proving-trump-pocketed-millions-from-at-least", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Democratic Republic of the Congo: Freedom in the World 2017 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/democratic-republic-congo/freedom-world/2017", "date": "2017" }, { "title": "Democratic Republic of the Congo: Freedom in the World 2018 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/democratic-republic-congo/freedom-world/2018", "date": "2018" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-kazakhstan-officials-trump-hotel-2017", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "Kazakhstan", "country": "Kazakhstan", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (Trump International Hotel, Washington)", "amount": "$23,772", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2017)", "title": "Kazakhstan government officials spend $23,772 at Trump's Washington hotel in 2017 and 2018", "quote": "", "date": "2017-10-11", "venue": "Disclosed in a House Oversight Committee Democratic staff report, January 4, 2024", "era": "term-1", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "Records from Trump's former accounting firm Mazars, published by Democratic staff of the House Oversight Committee on January 4, 2024, show that officials of Kazakhstan's government spent $23,772 at the Trump International Hotel in Washington. National Economy Minister Timur Suleimenov, National Bank governor Daniyar Akishev and other officials stayed there from October 11, 2017, around the World Bank annual meetings, and central bank officials returned in April 2018. Executives of the state-owned Baiterek holding and of the Kazakhstan Housing Company stayed in late May 2018. Trump received President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the White House on January 16, 2018. The staff report said Trump never sought the consent of Congress for foreign government payments. Eric Trump called the report's narrative \"insane\" and said the company could not stop bookings made through third parties.", "sources": [ { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic Staff", "url": "https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2024-01-04.COA%20DEMS%20-%20Mazars%20Report.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Full List of Countries That Made Payments to Donald Trump During Presidency", "outlet": "Newsweek", "url": "https://www.newsweek.com/full-list-countries-made-payments-donald-trump-during-presidency-1858008", "date": "2024-01-05" }, { "title": "Remarks to Members of the Press With President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-members-the-press-with-president-nursultan-nazarbayev-kazakhstan", "date": "2018-01-16" }, { "title": "Kazakhstan: Freedom in the World 2017 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/kazakhstan/freedom-world/2017", "date": "2017" }, { "title": "Kazakhstan: Freedom in the World 2018 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/kazakhstan/freedom-world/2018", "date": "2018" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-uae-embassy-hotel-stays-2017", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "United Arab Emirates", "country": "United Arab Emirates", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (Trump International Hotel, Washington)", "amount": "$65,225", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2017)", "title": "UAE embassy pays $65,225 for four stays at Trump's Washington hotel", "quote": "", "date": "2017-10-21", "venue": "House Oversight Committee Democratic staff report based on Mazars records, January 4, 2024", "era": "term-1", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "Mazars records obtained by House Oversight Committee Democrats show four stays at the Trump International Hotel in Washington billed to the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates: $2,625 for October 21 to 23, 2017; $33,512 for 37 rooms on November 10, 2017; $26,168 for a military delegation from March 8 to 16, 2018; and $2,920 in May 2018. The committee's Democratic staff report, released January 4, 2024, counted the $65,225 total among at least $7.8 million that Trump businesses received from 20 foreign governments during his term. The report noted that the stays came while the UAE and Saudi Arabia maintained a blockade of Qatar that began in June 2017, and that Trump had met Abu Dhabi's crown prince, Mohammed bin Zayed, at the White House on May 15, 2017. On May 24, 2019 the State Department used an emergency determination to complete arms transfers to the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan worth about $8.1 billion. Eric Trump told ABC News the report's \"narrative is insane\" and said the company could not stop bookings made through third parties and had voluntarily donated profits from foreign governments.", "sources": [ { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic staff report", "url": "https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU00/20240110/116733/HMKP-118-JU00-20240110-SD004.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Trump's businesses got at least $7.8 million in foreign payments while he was president, House Democrats say", "outlet": "CBS News", "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-foreign-payments-emoluments-clause-house-democrats/", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Trump's businesses received millions from foreign entities during his presidency, House report says", "outlet": "ABC News", "url": "https://abcnews.com/US/trumps-businesses-received-millions-foreign-entities-presidency-house/story?id=106106433", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Emergency Notification of Arms Sales to Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia", "outlet": "U.S. Department of State", "url": "https://2017-2021.state.gov/emergency-notification-of-arms-sales-to-jordan-the-united-arab-emirates-and-saudi-arabia/", "date": "2019-05-24" }, { "title": "United Arab Emirates: Freedom in the World 2017 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/united-arab-emirates/freedom-world/2017", "date": "2017" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-qatar-world-tower-apartment-2018", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "real-estate", "subject": "Qatar", "country": "Qatar", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (Trump World Tower)", "amount": "$6.5 million purchase price; $465,744 in estimated charges (2017-2020)", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2018)", "title": "Qatar buys a fourth apartment in Trump World Tower for $6.5 million", "quote": "These apartments, plus the recent unit, were all purchased due to their location, nothing more", "speaker": "Qatar's mission to the United Nations", "date": "2018-01-17", "venue": "Email to The Guardian; purchase recorded in New York City property records", "era": "term-1", "category": "ethics", "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": [ { "title": "Trump set to benefit as Qatar buys $6.5m apartment in New York tower", "outlet": "The Guardian", "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/04/trump-qatar-buys-apartment-new-york-tower", "date": "2018-05-04" }, { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic staff report", "url": "https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU00/20240110/116733/HMKP-118-JU00-20240110-SD004.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Trump's businesses got at least $7.8 million in foreign payments while he was president, House Democrats say", "outlet": "CBS News", "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-foreign-payments-emoluments-clause-house-democrats/", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Qatar: Freedom in the World 2018 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/qatar/freedom-world/2018", "date": "2018" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-saudi-entourage-new-york-hotel-2018", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "Saudi Arabia", "country": "Saudi Arabia", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (Trump International Hotel, New York)", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2018)", "title": "Stay by Saudi crown prince's entourage lifts revenue at Trump's New York hotel", "quote": "", "date": "2018-03", "venue": "Reported by The Washington Post from a hotel manager's letter to investors", "era": "term-1", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "The general manager of the Trump International Hotel in Manhattan wrote to investors on May 15, 2018 that room revenue rose 13 percent in the first quarter after two years of decline, and that one major factor was \"a last-minute visit to New York by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia,\" The Washington Post reported on August 3, 2018. The letter said the crown prince and royal family members did not stay at the hotel but that it accommodated \"many of the accompanying travelers\" during a five-day stay in March. The Post noted that the Trump Organization manages the hotel but does not own it. A Saudi Embassy spokeswoman said no one in the crown prince's official delegation stayed there and that she did not know whether the government paid for any travelers who did; the Trump Organization did not answer questions about who paid. The Post also reported that bookings from Saudi Arabia at Trump's Chicago hotel rose from 81 room-nights in the first half of 2016 to 218 in the first half of 2018.", "sources": [ { "title": "At President Trump's hotel in New York, revenue went up this spring — thanks to a visit from big-spending Saudis", "outlet": "The Washington Post (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180805014434/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/at-president-trumps-hotel-in-new-york-revenue-went-up-this-spring--thanks-to-a-visit-from-big-spending-saudis/2018/08/03/58755392-9112-11e8-bcd5-9d911c784c38_story.html", "date": "2018-08-03" }, { "title": "'I like them very much:' Trump has long-standing business ties with Saudis, who have boosted his hotels since he took office", "outlet": "The Washington Post (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20181012120453/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/i-like-them-very-much-trump-has-long-standing-business-ties-with-saudis-who-have-boosted-his-hotels-since-he-took-office/2018/10/11/0870df24-cd67-11e8-a360-85875bac0b1f_story.html", "date": "2018-10-11" }, { "title": "'I love the Saudis': Trump business ties to kingdom run deep", "outlet": "Associated Press (via Fox Business)", "url": "https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/i-love-the-saudis-trump-business-ties-to-kingdom-run-deep", "date": "2018-10-12" }, { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic staff report", "url": "https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU00/20240110/116733/HMKP-118-JU00-20240110-SD004.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Saudi Arabia: Freedom in the World 2018 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/saudi-arabia/freedom-world/2018", "date": "2018" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-saudi-payments-first-term-2018", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "Saudi Arabia", "country": "Saudi Arabia", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (Trump International Hotel, Washington; Trump World Tower)", "amount": "$615,422 (estimate for 2017-2020)", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2018)", "title": "Saudi defense ministry delegation pays $78,342 for a week at Trump's Washington hotel", "quote": "", "date": "2018-03-07", "venue": "House Oversight Committee Democratic staff report based on Mazars records, January 4, 2024", "era": "term-1", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "Records from Trump's former accounting firm, Mazars, show that the Saudi Ministry of Defense paid $78,342 to the Trump International Hotel in Washington for a stay from March 7 to March 15, 2018, according to a House Oversight Committee Democratic staff report; Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Trump at the White House on March 20, 2018. Adding estimated charges on the floor the kingdom owns in Trump World Tower, the report put Saudi payments to Trump businesses during his term at no less than $615,422, part of at least $7.8 million from 20 governments. After the killing of Jamal Khashoggi on October 2, 2018, Trump said in a November 20 statement that the United States intended \"to remain a steadfast partner of Saudi Arabia\". On May 24, 2019, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used an emergency determination to complete 22 arms transfers worth about $8.1 billion to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, and on July 24, 2019 Trump vetoed a resolution that would have blocked licenses for Saudi Arabia. The report alleged violations of the foreign emoluments clause; Eric Trump told ABC News that the \"narrative is insane\" and cited the company's voluntary donation of profits from foreign governments to the Treasury.", "featured": true, "sources": [ { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic staff report", "url": "https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU00/20240110/116733/HMKP-118-JU00-20240110-SD004.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Trump's businesses got at least $7.8 million in foreign payments while he was president, House Democrats say", "outlet": "CBS News", "url": "https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-foreign-payments-emoluments-clause-house-democrats/", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Trump's businesses received millions from foreign entities during his presidency, House report says", "outlet": "ABC News", "url": "https://abcnews.com/US/trumps-businesses-received-millions-foreign-entities-presidency-house/story?id=106106433", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Statement on Standing With Saudi Arabia", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/statement-standing-with-saudi-arabia", "date": "2018-11-20" }, { "title": "Emergency Notification of Arms Sales to Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia", "outlet": "U.S. Department of State", "url": "https://2017-2021.state.gov/emergency-notification-of-arms-sales-to-jordan-the-united-arab-emirates-and-saudi-arabia/", "date": "2019-05-24" }, { "title": "Message to the Senate Returning Without Approval Legislation Regarding Congressional Disapproval of the Proposed Transfer of Certain Defense Articles and Services to Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Italy", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project (UCSB)", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/message-the-senate-returning-without-approval-legislation-regarding-congressional-0", "date": "2019-07-24" }, { "title": "Saudi Arabia: Freedom in the World 2018 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/saudi-arabia/freedom-world/2018", "date": "2018" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-ivanka-trademarks-zte-2018", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "China", "country": "China", "beneficiary": "Ivanka Trump (Ivanka Trump Marks LLC)", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2018)", "title": "China approved Ivanka Trump trademarks on May 7, 2018, six days before Trump moved to rescue ZTE", "quote": "President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast. Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!", "date": "2018-05-07", "venue": "Quote: Twitter, May 13, 2018; trademark records published by CREW", "era": "term-1", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "Chinese trademark records made public by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington show that Ivanka Trump Marks LLC received initial approval on May 7, 2018 for five trademark applications filed in 2017, covering goods such as bathmats, textiles and baby blankets; CNBC counted seven Chinese trademarks registered to the brand in May 2018, and The Guardian reported that in the preceding three months China had granted final approval for 13 of her trademarks and provisional approval for eight more. On May 13, 2018, Trump tweeted that he and President Xi were working to give ZTE, which the Commerce Department had barred from U.S. suppliers in April for violating sanctions on Iran and North Korea, \"a way to get back into business, fast.\" The administration later lifted the ban in exchange for a $1.3 billion penalty and management changes. CREW executive director Noah Bookbinder said the timing \"raises significant questions about corruption.\" CNBC noted the applications had been filed in early 2017, more than a year earlier, and that it was not clear the pace of approval was unusual. Ivanka Trump had stepped back from running the company but continued to profit from it. Freedom House rated China Not Free in its 2018 report.", "sources": [ { "title": "Ivanka Trump won China trademarks days before her father's reversal on ZTE", "outlet": "The Guardian", "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/may/28/ivanka-trump-won-china-trademarks-donald-trump-zte-reversal", "date": "2018-05-28" }, { "title": "Ivanka Trump's Chinese trademarks raise questions about potential conflicts of interest", "outlet": "CNBC", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/29/ivanka-trump-chinese-trademarks-raise-conflict-of-interest-questions.html", "date": "2018-05-29" }, { "title": "Tweet of May 13, 2018 (ZTE)", "outlet": "Twitter (@realDonaldTrump)", "url": "https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/995680316458262533", "date": "2018-05-13" }, { "title": "China: Freedom in the World 2018 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/china/freedom-world/2018", "date": "2018" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-brookfield-666-fifth-qatar-2018", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "real-estate", "subject": "Qatar", "country": "Qatar", "beneficiary": "Kushner Companies (family of Jared Kushner)", "amount": "about $1.1 billion", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2018)", "title": "Brookfield fund part-owned by Qatar's sovereign wealth fund leases Kushner tower at 666 Fifth Avenue", "quote": "QIA had absolutely no involvement in the 666 Fifth Ave. development and the claims about QIA’s investment strategy are not true", "speaker": "Qatar Investment Authority spokesman", "date": "2018-08-03", "venue": "Statement to Reuters, February 2019, as quoted by Bisnow; lease announced by Brookfield Asset Management", "era": "term-1", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "On August 3, 2018 Brookfield Asset Management said it had taken a 99-year lease on 666 Fifth Avenue, the Manhattan tower owned by the family of Jared Kushner, then a senior White House adviser. The New York Times reported that Brookfield paid about $1.1 billion in rent upfront, easing a $1.4 billion mortgage due in February 2019, and that Kushner Companies declined to comment. The lease was made through Brookfield Property Partners, in which the Qatar Investment Authority was the second-largest investor with $1.8 billion, according to Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden. The Qatari fund told Reuters it had no involvement, and Brookfield said during the negotiations that \"no Qatar-linked entity has any involvement in, investment in or even knowledge of this potential transaction,\" according to Wyden's letter. Wyden wrote in October 2022 that Brookfield had twice declined to give his committee information about the transaction. Trump had backed the Saudi-led blockade of Qatar in June 2017 and received Qatar's emir at the White House on April 10, 2018.", "sources": [ { "title": "Deal Gives Kushners Cash Infusion on 666 Fifth Avenue", "outlet": "The New York Times (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20180804213703/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/03/nyregion/kushners-building-fifth-avenue-brookfield-lease.html", "date": "2018-08-03" }, { "title": "Wyden Continues Investigation Into Kushner Conflicts of Interest, Influence on U.S. Foreign Policy", "outlet": "U.S. Senate Committee on Finance", "url": "https://www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/wyden-continues-investigation-into-kushner-conflicts-of-interest-influence-on-us-foreign-policy", "date": "2022-10-13" }, { "title": "Qatar Reportedly Disliked Having Even A Small Part In Bailing Out Jared Kushner", "outlet": "Bisnow", "url": "https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/capital-markets/qatar-revamps-investment-strategy-after-bailing-out-kushner-building-97499", "date": "2019-02-13" }, { "title": "Kushner Firm Got Hundreds of Millions From 2 Persian Gulf Nations", "outlet": "The New York Times (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20230331232251/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/30/us/politics/jared-kushner-qatar-united-arab-emirates.html", "date": "2023-03-30" }, { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic staff report", "url": "https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU00/20240110/116733/HMKP-118-JU00-20240110-SD004.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Qatar: Freedom in the World 2018 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/qatar/freedom-world/2018", "date": "2018" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-thailand-trump-hotel-2018", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "Thailand", "country": "Thailand", "beneficiary": "Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C. (Trump Organization)", "amount": "$11,340", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2018)", "title": "Thailand's agriculture minister and junta government officials spent $11,340 at Trump's Washington hotel", "quote": "", "date": "2018-08-18", "venue": "Mazars USA accounting records cited in the House Oversight Democrats' report \"White House for Sale\"", "era": "term-1", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "Grisada Boonrach, Thailand's Minister for Agriculture and Cooperatives, stayed at the Trump International Hotel in Washington on the nights of August 18 to 22, 2018, accompanied by other Thai government officials who stayed from August 18 through August 24, 2018; together they spent $11,340, according to Mazars USA records cited in the House Oversight Democrats' January 2024 report. Thailand was then governed by the military junta that took power in the 2014 coup, and Freedom House rated it Not Free in its 2018 report. The report lists Thailand among 20 foreign governments whose payments to Trump businesses it identified from the limited records available. The Trump Organization said it donated more than $450,000 in estimated foreign government profits to the U.S. Treasury during the term, and Eric Trump said the report was politically motivated.", "sources": [ { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic staff", "url": "https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2024-01-04.COA%20DEMS%20-%20Mazars%20Report.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Oversight Democrats Release Report Proving Trump Pocketed Millions From At Least 20 Foreign Governments As President", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democrats", "url": "https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/oversight-democrats-release-report-proving-trump-pocketed-millions-from-at-least", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Thailand: Freedom in the World 2018 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/thailand/freedom-world/2018", "date": "2018" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-ivanka-16-trademarks-2018", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "China", "country": "China", "beneficiary": "Ivanka Trump (Ivanka Trump Marks LLC)", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2018)", "title": "China gave initial approval to 16 more Ivanka Trump trademarks, including voting machines, during the trade war", "quote": "", "date": "2018-10", "venue": "Chinese trademark records, first reported by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington", "era": "term-1", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "In October 2018, Ivanka Trump's fashion brand won first trial approval from the Chinese government for 16 new trademarks, the largest number in a single month since her father took office, covering handbags, shoes, wedding dresses and jewelry as well as nursing homes, sausage casing and voting machines, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington reported on November 5, 2018. The applications had been filed in 2016. The approvals came about three months after Ivanka Trump announced in July 2018 that she was closing the brand, while she continued to serve as a White House adviser; The Washington Post had reported she would retain the brand's intellectual property and keep seeking trademarks. CREW said the approvals came \"while her father continues to wage a trade war with China\" and that her trademarks \"remain a potential conflict of interest.\" Freedom House rated China Not Free in its 2018 report.", "sources": [ { "title": "Ivanka Trump's Chinese Trademarks", "outlet": "Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington", "url": "https://www.citizensforethics.org/reports-investigations/crew-investigations/ivanka-trump-trademarks/", "date": "2018-11-05" }, { "title": "Ivanka Trump gets initial approval from China for 16 new trademarks, including for 'voting machines'", "outlet": "CNBC", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/06/ivanka-trump-gets-initial-approval-from-china-for-16-trademarks.html", "date": "2018-11-06" }, { "title": "Did China Grant a Trademark to Ivanka Trump for Voting Machines?", "outlet": "Snopes", "url": "https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ivanka-trump-voting-machines/", "date": "2019-10-09" }, { "title": "China: Freedom in the World 2018 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/china/freedom-world/2018", "date": "2018" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-pif-affinity-investment-2021", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "investment", "subject": "Saudi Arabia", "country": "Saudi Arabia", "beneficiary": "Jared Kushner (Affinity Partners)", "amount": "$2 billion", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2021)", "title": "Saudi sovereign wealth fund commits $2 billion to Kushner's firm over its advisers' objections", "quote": "Affinity, like many other top investment firms, is proud to have PIF and other leading organizations that have careful screening criteria, as investors.", "speaker": "Affinity Partners spokesman", "date": "2021-07", "venue": "Statement to The New York Times, published April 10, 2022", "era": "between-terms", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "Six months after Jared Kushner left the White House, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund agreed to invest $2 billion in his new firm, Affinity Partners, The New York Times reported on April 10, 2022 from internal fund documents. Minutes of a June 30, 2021 meeting show that the fund's screening panel cited \"the inexperience of the Affinity Fund management,\" due diligence that found operations \"unsatisfactory in all aspects\" and a fee that \"seems excessive\"; days later the board, led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, overruled the panel. The documents indicated a 1.25 percent annual management fee, or $25 million a year, and a Saudi stake of at least 28 percent in Kushner's main investment vehicle. The Times reported that as a White House adviser Kushner helped broker $110 billion in weapons sales to Saudi Arabia and defended the crown prince after the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. House Oversight chair Carolyn Maloney opened an investigation in 2022, which Republicans closed after taking control of the House; a Kushner spokesman said he \"fully abided by all legal and ethical guidelines both during and after his government service.\"", "featured": true, "sources": [ { "title": "Before Giving Billions to Jared Kushner, Saudi Investment Fund Had Big Doubts", "outlet": "The New York Times (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20220411225240/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/10/us/jared-kushner-saudi-investment-fund.html", "date": "2022-04-10" }, { "title": "Kushner Firm Got Hundreds of Millions From 2 Persian Gulf Nations", "outlet": "The New York Times (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20230331232251/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/30/us/politics/jared-kushner-qatar-united-arab-emirates.html", "date": "2023-03-30" }, { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic staff report", "url": "https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU00/20240110/116733/HMKP-118-JU00-20240110-SD004.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Saudi Arabia: Freedom in the World 2021 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/saudi-arabia/freedom-world/2021", "date": "2021" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-liv-golf-bedminster-2022", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "Saudi Arabia", "country": "Saudi Arabia", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (Trump National Golf Club Bedminster)", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2022)", "title": "Saudi-funded LIV Golf holds tournament at Trump's Bedminster club", "quote": "", "date": "2022-07-29", "venue": "LIV Golf Invitational, Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, New Jersey", "era": "between-terms", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "LIV Golf, which Reuters described as bankrolled by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, held the third event of its first season at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster from July 29 to 31, 2022, with a $25 million purse. Trump played in the pro-am on July 28 with his son Eric and urged golfers on Truth Social to \"take the money\" and join the series. The event went ahead despite condemnation from families of victims of the September 11 attacks, CNBC reported. The PGA of America had moved the 2022 PGA Championship away from Bedminster after January 6, 2021. What LIV paid to use the course has not been disclosed; a House Oversight Democratic staff report, quoting The Washington Post, said hosting was \"believed to be a lucrative arrangement for Trump, though neither side has revealed details.\" The New York Times reported in 2023 that federal prosecutors had issued subpoenas for information about the agreements with LIV Golf.", "featured": true, "sources": [ { "title": "Trump to play LIV Golf pro-am with Johnson and DeChambeau", "outlet": "Reuters (via Malay Mail)", "url": "https://www.malaymail.com/news/sports/2022/07/28/trump-to-play-liv-golf-pro-am-with-johnson-and-dechambeau/19689", "date": "2022-07-28" }, { "title": "Donald Trump tees off at LIV Golf pro-am event", "outlet": "Fox News", "url": "https://www.foxnews.com/sports/donald-trump-tees-off-liv-golf-pro-am-event", "date": "2022-07-28" }, { "title": "Trump criticizes PGA Tour, says Saudis have done fantastic job with LIV", "outlet": "CNBC", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/27/trump-criticizes-pga-tour-praises-saudis-liv.html", "date": "2022-10-27" }, { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic staff report", "url": "https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU00/20240110/116733/HMKP-118-JU00-20240110-SD004.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Trump Real Estate Deal in Oman Underscores Ethics Concerns", "outlet": "The New York Times (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20230621233648/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/20/us/politics/trump-real-estate-deal-oman.html", "date": "2023-06-20" }, { "title": "Saudi Arabia: Freedom in the World 2022 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/saudi-arabia/freedom-world/2022", "date": "2022" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-oman-aida-resort-2022", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "real-estate", "subject": "Oman", "country": "Oman", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (Trump Organization)", "amount": "at least $5 million", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2022)", "title": "Trump Organization signs licensing deal for resort on Omani government land", "quote": "It is an honor to work with Dar Al Arkan, who share our vision for superior quality and excellence", "speaker": "Trump Organization statement", "date": "2022-11-14", "venue": "Statement to The New York Times", "era": "between-terms", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "On November 14, 2022, the day before Trump announced his 2024 candidacy, the Trump Organization confirmed that it had signed a deal with the Saudi developer Dar Al Arkan to put the Trump name on a golf course, hotel and villas in the Aida project near Muscat, Oman. Dar Al Arkan said the project would be developed with the support of Omran Group, which it described as the Sultanate of Oman's executive arm for tourism development. The New York Times reported in June 2023 that Oman's government is providing the land, investing in infrastructure and will take a cut of the profits, that the Trump Organization had already received at least $5 million, and that it would be paid to manage the hotel and golf club for up to 30 years. The Times described Dar Al Arkan as closely intertwined with the Saudi government. Neither company would say how much the Trump family would be paid in total. The Times noted that Trump sent Jared Kushner to meet Oman's sultan in 2019 and later called the new sultan to discuss the two countries' economic partnership.", "featured": true, "sources": [ { "title": "Trump Family Signs Deal With Saudi Real Estate Developer", "outlet": "The New York Times (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20221116002308/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/us/politics/trump-organization-oman-saudi.html", "date": "2022-11-14" }, { "title": "Trump Real Estate Deal in Oman Underscores Ethics Concerns", "outlet": "The New York Times (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20230621233648/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/20/us/politics/trump-real-estate-deal-oman.html", "date": "2023-06-20" }, { "title": "Dar Al Arkan introduces Trump signature villas, hotel, and golf course at its hilltop project 'AIDA' in Muscat, Oman", "outlet": "Dar Al Arkan (via PR Newswire)", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dar-al-arkan-introduces-trump-signature-villas-hotel-and-golf-course-at-its-hilltop-project-aida-in-muscat-oman-301683347.html", "date": "2022-11-20" }, { "title": "Trump's business deal with Oman raises new ethical questions", "outlet": "PBS News", "url": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/trumps-business-deal-with-oman-raises-new-ethical-questions", "date": "2023-06-21" }, { "title": "Oman: Freedom in the World 2022 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/oman/freedom-world/2022", "date": "2022" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-uae-fund-affinity-2023", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "investment", "subject": "United Arab Emirates", "country": "United Arab Emirates", "beneficiary": "Jared Kushner (Affinity Partners)", "amount": "more than $200 million", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2023)", "title": "Emirati sovereign wealth fund invests more than $200 million with Kushner's Affinity Partners", "quote": "", "date": "2023-03-30", "venue": "Reported by The New York Times", "era": "campaign-2024", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "The New York Times reported on March 30, 2023 that a sovereign wealth fund in the United Arab Emirates had invested more than $200 million with Affinity Partners, the private equity firm Jared Kushner founded after leaving the White House, citing two people told about the transaction. The date of the investment was not reported. The UAE embassy in Washington declined to comment and an Affinity official did not respond to the Times. The Times reported that Emirati officials were at first reluctant to invest, in part because of the political risks. As a White House adviser Kushner helped orchestrate the Abraham Accords, which normalized relations between Israel and the UAE in 2020. In June 2024 Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden opened an investigation of the firm's payments from Gulf funds; Affinity's chief legal officer said the firm \"has always acted appropriately.\"", "sources": [ { "title": "Kushner Firm Got Hundreds of Millions From 2 Persian Gulf Nations", "outlet": "The New York Times (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20230331232251/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/30/us/politics/jared-kushner-qatar-united-arab-emirates.html", "date": "2023-03-30" }, { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic staff report", "url": "https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU00/20240110/116733/HMKP-118-JU00-20240110-SD004.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Jared Kushner's Saudi-backed fund paid millions in fees, makes no profit", "outlet": "The New York Times (via The Seattle Times)", "url": "https://www.seattletimes.com/business/jared-kushners-saudi-backed-fund-paid-millions-in-fees-makes-no-profit/", "date": "2024-09-26" }, { "title": "United Arab Emirates: Freedom in the World 2023 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/united-arab-emirates/freedom-world/2023", "date": "2023" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-qatar-fund-affinity-2023", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "investment", "subject": "Qatar", "country": "Qatar", "beneficiary": "Jared Kushner (Affinity Partners)", "amount": "about $200 million", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2023)", "title": "Qatari entity invests about $200 million with Kushner's Affinity Partners", "quote": "", "date": "2023-03-30", "venue": "Reported by The New York Times", "era": "campaign-2024", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "The New York Times reported on March 30, 2023 that a Qatari entity had invested a sum similar to the more than $200 million that an Emirati fund placed with Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners, citing two people with knowledge of the deal; the Times said the identity of the Qatari investor was unclear. In September 2024 the Times reported that the firm's money included investments from the sovereign wealth funds of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. A spokesman for the Qatari embassy declined to comment. The Times had earlier reported that Qatari officials feared unfavorable treatment if they turned Kushner down and Trump returned to power. During the final days of the Trump presidency Kushner took part in talks that helped lift the blockade of Qatar by its neighbors, which Trump had backed when it began in 2017. The date of the investment was not reported.", "sources": [ { "title": "Kushner Firm Got Hundreds of Millions From 2 Persian Gulf Nations", "outlet": "The New York Times (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20230331232251/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/30/us/politics/jared-kushner-qatar-united-arab-emirates.html", "date": "2023-03-30" }, { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic staff report", "url": "https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU00/20240110/116733/HMKP-118-JU00-20240110-SD004.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Jared Kushner's Saudi-backed fund paid millions in fees, makes no profit", "outlet": "The New York Times (via The Seattle Times)", "url": "https://www.seattletimes.com/business/jared-kushners-saudi-backed-fund-paid-millions-in-fees-makes-no-profit/", "date": "2024-09-26" }, { "title": "Qatar: Freedom in the World 2023 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/qatar/freedom-world/2023", "date": "2023" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-liv-golf-doral-deal-2023", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "Saudi Arabia", "country": "Saudi Arabia", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (Trump National Doral Miami)", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2023)", "title": "Trump announces Doral has signed with LIV Golf for an April 2024 tournament", "quote": "TRUMP NATIONAL DORAL, in Miami, has just signed with LIV GOLF to host a Championship Tournament in April, 2024. The event they had at Doral in October was a major success!", "date": "2023-12-15", "venue": "Truth Social post", "era": "campaign-2024", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "Trump announced the agreement on Truth Social on December 15, 2023, while campaigning for the Republican nomination. The New York Times reported in July 2024 that the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, which backs LIV Golf, \"paid the Trump family to host one of its tournaments at the Trump National Doral near Miami earlier this year\"; the amount was not reported. A House Oversight Democratic staff report noted that in an April 2023 deposition Trump said he believed he \"could sell that to LIV Golf for a fortune, Saudi Arabia,\" referring to his Turnberry course in Scotland. The report said Trump courses had hosted LIV events in 2022 and 2023 and that neither side had revealed the terms.", "sources": [ { "title": "Truth Social post of December 15, 2023, 8:08 AM", "outlet": "Trump's Truth (Truth Social archive)", "url": "https://www.trumpstruth.org/statuses/7651", "date": "2023-12-15" }, { "title": "Trump Organization Signs Contract for New Saudi Tower", "outlet": "The New York Times (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/20240702195330/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/01/us/politics/trump-organization-saudi-arabia-tower.html", "date": "2024-07-01" }, { "title": "White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump", "outlet": "House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic staff report", "url": "https://docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU00/20240110/116733/HMKP-118-JU00-20240110-SD004.pdf", "date": "2024-01-04" }, { "title": "Saudi Arabia: Freedom in the World 2023 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/saudi-arabia/freedom-world/2023", "date": "2023" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-affinity-fees-senate-2024", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "investment", "subject": "Saudi Arabia", "country": "Saudi Arabia", "beneficiary": "Jared Kushner (Affinity Partners)", "amount": "as much as $157 million in fees, including $87 million from Saudi Arabia", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2024)", "title": "Senate inquiry finds Kushner's firm collected up to $157 million in fees from foreign clients", "quote": "Partisan politics aside, Affinity Partners is an SEC-registered investment firm that has always acted appropriately and any suggestion to the contrary is false", "speaker": "Chad Mizelle, chief legal officer of Affinity Partners", "date": "2024-09-24", "venue": "Statement to The New York Times in response to a letter from Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden", "era": "campaign-2024", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden wrote to Affinity Partners on September 24, 2024 that the firm had received as much as $157 million in fees from foreign clients since 2021, including $87 million from the Saudi government, and had not distributed earnings to its investors as of July 2024. His committee said Affinity disclosed a 1.25 percent annual fee on the Saudi Public Investment Fund's $2 billion commitment. The New York Times put the fees paid by Saudi Arabia and other foreign investors at no less than $112 million and reported that the rest of the firm's roughly $3 billion came mostly from the sovereign wealth funds of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Affinity called the letter a political move, said it had followed all laws and ethics rules, and said a delay in returning profits was not unusual for a private equity firm. On October 24, 2024 Wyden and Rep. Jamie Raskin asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel to examine whether Kushner should have registered as a foreign agent.", "featured": true, "sources": [ { "title": "Wyden Investigation of Kushner Firm Continues; New Letter Outlines Affinity Partners' Fee Structure, Lack of Return to Investors, Questionable Deals with Foreign Governments", "outlet": "U.S. Senate Committee on Finance", "url": "https://www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/wyden-investigation-of-kushner-firm-continues-new-letter-outlines-affinity-partners-fee-structure-lack-of-return-to-investors-questionable-deals-with-foreign-governments", "date": "2024-09-25" }, { "title": "Jared Kushner's Saudi-backed fund paid millions in fees, makes no profit", "outlet": "The New York Times (via The Seattle Times)", "url": "https://www.seattletimes.com/business/jared-kushners-saudi-backed-fund-paid-millions-in-fees-makes-no-profit/", "date": "2024-09-26" }, { "title": "Jared Kushner's private equity firm faces inquiry as it fails to return profits", "outlet": "The Guardian", "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/sep/25/jared-kushner-affinity-partners-firm-senate-inquiry", "date": "2024-09-25" }, { "title": "Wyden, Raskin Call for Department of Justice to Appoint a Special Counsel to Investigate Jared Kushner for Acting as an Unregistered Foreign Agent", "outlet": "U.S. Senate Committee on Finance", "url": "https://www.finance.senate.gov/chairmans-news/wyden-raskin-call-for-department-of-justice-to-appoint-a-special-counsel-to-investigate-jared-kushner-for-acting-as-an-unregistered-foreign-agent", "date": "2024-10-24" }, { "title": "Saudi Arabia: Freedom in the World 2024 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/saudi-arabia/freedom-world/2024", "date": "2024" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-vietnam-hung-yen-agreement-2024", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "real-estate", "subject": "Vietnam", "country": "Vietnam", "beneficiary": "Trump Organization", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2024)", "title": "Hung Yen's provincial government signed with a Trump Organization consortium for a $1.5 billion golf resort", "quote": "", "date": "2024-09-25", "venue": "Kinh Bac City press release, reported by Viet Nam News and The Investor", "era": "campaign-2024", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "On September 25, 2024, during Vietnamese party chief and president To Lam's visit to the United States, the People's Committee of Hung Yen province signed a memorandum with a consortium selected by the Trump Organization, made up of Hung Yen Investment and Development Group (a Kinh Bac City unit) and the investment funds IDG and Horitus, for a roughly $1.5 billion complex of hotels, a 54-hole golf course and villas; the Trump Organization separately signed a partnership agreement with Kinh Bac City's Hung Yen Hotel Services subsidiary, according to a Kinh Bac City release reported by Viet Nam News. Photographs released by Kinh Bac City show Donald Trump, Eric Trump and chairman Dang Thanh Tam at the signing ceremony; Viet Nam News placed it in Florida and The Investor in New York. A Trump Organization delegation had met Hung Yen provincial leaders on September 16, 2024, when chairman Tran Quoc Van asked agencies to move the administrative procedures quickly. Eric Trump said the company was \"thrilled to make our official entry into this vibrant market.\" Reuters later reported, from regulatory filings, that Kinh Bac City and its partners paid the Trump Organization $5 million for brand licensing rights. Freedom House rated Vietnam Not Free in its 2024 report.", "sources": [ { "title": "Trump organisation pours $1.5 billion in Hung Yen", "outlet": "Viet Nam News", "url": "https://vietnamnews.vn/economy/1664625/trump-organisation-pours-1-5-billion-in-hung-yen.html", "date": "2024-10-10" }, { "title": "Vietnam IP builder KBC, The Trump Organization to build $1.5 bln golf-hotel complex", "outlet": "The Investor (Vietnam)", "url": "https://theinvestor.vn/vietnam-ip-builder-kbc-the-trump-organization-to-build-15-bln-golf-hotel-complex-d12688.html", "date": "2024-10-08" }, { "title": "The Trump Organization eyes golf course-hotel investment in northern Vietnam", "outlet": "The Investor (Vietnam)", "url": "https://theinvestor.vn/the-trump-organization-eyes-golf-course-hotel-investment-in-northern-vietnam-d12298.html", "date": "2024-09-18" }, { "title": "Displaced Vietnamese farmers to get fistful of dollars, rice at $1.5 billion Trump golf club", "outlet": "Reuters via Yahoo News", "url": "https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/displaced-vietnamese-farmers-fistful-dollars-170020403.html", "date": "2025-08-11" }, { "title": "Vietnam: Freedom in the World 2024 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/vietnam/freedom-world/2024", "date": "2024" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-qia-lunate-affinity-2024", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "investment", "subject": "Qatar", "country": "Qatar", "beneficiary": "Jared Kushner (Affinity Partners)", "amount": "$1.5 billion", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2024)", "title": "Qatar's sovereign wealth fund and Abu Dhabi's Lunate add $1.5 billion to Kushner's firm", "quote": "I made very clear to them that in the event that Trump was elected, they should not expect anything from me", "speaker": "Jared Kushner", "date": "2024-12", "venue": "Invest Like the Best podcast, as reported by Bloomberg and AGBI", "era": "campaign-2024", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "Jared Kushner said in a podcast interview reported in December 2024 that Affinity Partners had secured an additional $1.5 billion from the Qatar Investment Authority and Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment firm, both existing investors. He said talks began in February 2024 and concluded before the November election, and that investors agreed to the commitments regardless of the outcome. He said the firm had raised the money early so that it would not need to raise capital during the next four years. Reuters reported that the injection helped lift Affinity's assets under management to $4.8 billion at the end of 2024, from $3 billion a year earlier, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that list Kushner as sole owner.", "sources": [ { "title": "Kushner's Affinity raises new capital from QIA and Lunate", "outlet": "AGBI", "url": "https://www.agbi.com/finance/2024/12/kushners-affinity-raises-new-capital-from-qia-and-lunate/", "date": "2024-12-22" }, { "title": "Kushner's Affinity's assets jump to $4.8 billion after Gulf cash injection", "outlet": "Reuters (via Yahoo Finance)", "url": "https://finance.yahoo.com/news/kushners-affinitys-assets-jump-4-163548585.html", "date": "2025-03-28" }, { "title": "Qatar: Freedom in the World 2024 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/qatar/freedom-world/2024", "date": "2024" }, { "title": "United Arab Emirates: Freedom in the World 2024 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/united-arab-emirates/freedom-world/2024", "date": "2024" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-oman-aida-licensing-income-2025", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "real-estate", "subject": "Oman", "country": "Oman", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (Trump Organization)", "amount": "nearly $1 million", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2025)", "title": "Trump reports licensing income from Oman resort being built with state tourism company", "quote": "", "date": "2025", "venue": "Trump's annual financial disclosure, as analyzed by CNBC", "era": "term-2", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "Trump's financial disclosure covering 2025 reported nearly $1 million in licensing income tied to Aida, a development near Muscat being built through a joint venture between Dar Global and Omran Group, the Omani government's tourism development arm, according to a CNBC analysis published on August 10, 2026. The Trump Organization first signed the Oman licensing deal in 2022, and AFP described the project as sitting on Omani state-owned land. Newsweek reported in July 2025 that Trump International Oman, a $500 million resort with a 140-room hotel and golf course, was expected to open by December 2028, and that Oman was acting as a mediator between the United States and Iran on nuclear talks. CNBC noted that the Trump Organization's ethics policy bars only direct agreements with foreign governments and said it found no evidence that any licensing payment influenced an administration decision. The Trump Organization told CNBC it operates \"completely separate from the presidency\"; the Omani government and Omran Group did not respond to CNBC's questions.", "sources": [ { "title": "Trump's foreign licensing business booms to $59.5 million as Gulf developers pay", "outlet": "CNBC", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/10/trump-foreign-real-estate-licensing-income-gulf-deals.html", "date": "2026-08-10" }, { "title": "Satellite Images Show New Trump Resort Emerge", "outlet": "Newsweek", "url": "https://www.newsweek.com/satellite-images-show-new-trump-resort-emerge-middle-east-2100572", "date": "2025-07-18" }, { "title": "As Trump family's Gulf empire grows, rulers seek influence, arms, tech", "outlet": "AFP via Malay Mail", "url": "https://malaymail.com/news/world/2025/05/11/as-trump-familys-gulf-empire-grows-rulers-seek-influence-arms-tech/176357", "date": "2025-05-11" }, { "title": "Luxury skyscrapers, golf courses and cryptocurrency: Trump's rapidly expanding Middle East business", "outlet": "CNN", "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/13/politics/trump-middle-east-business-invs", "date": "2025-05-13" }, { "title": "Inside Trump's Decades-Long Relationship With The United Arab Emirates", "outlet": "Forbes (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/2id_/https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2025/10/27/this-gulf-nation-is-powering-trumps-moneymaking-machine/", "date": "2025-10-27" }, { "title": "Oman: Freedom in the World 2025 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/oman/freedom-world/2025", "date": "2025" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-tahnoon-world-liberty-stake-2025", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "crypto", "subject": "United Arab Emirates", "country": "United Arab Emirates", "beneficiary": "World Liberty Financial and Trump family entities", "amount": "$500 million", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2025)", "title": "Firm backed by UAE's Sheikh Tahnoon agrees to buy 49% of World Liberty Financial for $500 million", "quote": "Neither President Trump nor Steve Witkoff had any involvement whatsoever in this transaction and have had no involvement in World Liberty Financial since taking office", "speaker": "David Wachsman, World Liberty Financial spokesperson", "date": "2025-01-16", "venue": "Reported by The Wall Street Journal on January 31, 2026; statement to CNN", "era": "campaign-2024", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "The Wall Street Journal reported on January 31, 2026 that Aryam Investment, a company backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's national security adviser and manager of its largest wealth fund, took a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million in a deal signed by Eric Trump four days before Trump's second inauguration on January 20, 2025. According to the Journal's account as relayed by CNBC and CNN, about $187 million went to Trump family entities and at least $31 million to Witkoff family entities; CNBC later reported, citing Trump's 2025 financial disclosure, that the deal directed $263 million to Trump family entities. A World Liberty spokesperson confirmed the investment to CNN and said any claim that it was connected to the administration's actions on chips was \"100% false.\" In May 2025 the United States agreed to allow the UAE to buy hundreds of thousands of advanced Nvidia AI chips, with a fifth going to G42, Tahnoon's AI company, CNBC reported. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the president's assets are in a trust managed by his children and that \"There are no conflicts of interest.\" Senator Elizabeth Warren called for the chip decision to be reversed and for officials to testify before Congress.", "featured": true, "sources": [ { "title": "United Arab Emirates' 'Spy Sheikh' bought secret stake in Trump crypto company: WSJ", "outlet": "CNBC", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/01/spy-sheikh-stake-trump-crypto.html", "date": "2026-02-01" }, { "title": "UAE-linked firm bought major stake in Trump family crypto company, Wall Street Journal reports", "outlet": "CNN", "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/01/politics/trump-family-crypto-world-liberty-financial-uae", "date": "2026-02-01" }, { "title": "UAE 'spy sheikh' takes 49% stake in Trump family crypto bank venture", "outlet": "CNBC", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/27/uae-spy-sheikh-trump-family-crypto-bank.html", "date": "2026-08-27" }, { "title": "United Arab Emirates: Freedom in the World 2025 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/united-arab-emirates/freedom-world/2025", "date": "2025" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-liv-golf-doral-2025", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "Saudi Arabia", "country": "Saudi Arabia", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (Trump National Doral)", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2025)", "title": "Saudi-funded LIV Golf holds tournament at Trump National Doral as Trump attends its dinner", "quote": "And ultimately, hopefully, the two tours are going to merge. That would be good. I'm involved in that too.", "date": "2025-04-04", "venue": "Remarks to reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Miami, April 3, 2025", "era": "term-2", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "LIV Golf, the league funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, held a tournament at Trump National Doral from April 4 to 6, 2025. Trump flew to the club on April 3 and attended a LIV Golf dinner there that evening, according to the White House digest and local reporting; on the flight he told reporters he would speak to the players and that he was involved in efforts to merge LIV with the PGA Tour. Doral hosted a LIV tournament every year from the league's 2022 launch through 2025, GolfMagic reported. CNN reported that Trump partnered with LIV after the PGA canceled a tournament at his New Jersey course. The sources cited here do not state how much LIV paid the club.", "sources": [ { "title": "Digest of Other White House Announcements", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/digest-other-white-house-announcements-6001", "date": "2025-04-03" }, { "title": "Remarks in an Exchange With Reporters Aboard Air Force One En Route to Miami, Florida", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-exchange-with-reporters-aboard-air-force-one-en-route-miami-florida-0", "date": "2025-04-03" }, { "title": "Trump flies from MIA to Doral ahead of LIV Golf; president's schedule includes Mar-a-Lago and Jupiter", "outlet": "WPLG Local 10", "url": "https://www.local10.com/news/local/2025/04/03/trump-flies-from-mia-to-doral-for-golf-tournament-is-set-to-stay-at-mar-a-lago/", "date": "2025-04-03" }, { "title": "Luxury skyscrapers, golf courses and cryptocurrency: Trump's rapidly expanding Middle East business", "outlet": "CNN", "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/13/politics/trump-middle-east-business-invs", "date": "2025-05-13" }, { "title": "LIV Golf schedule 2026: Where is the breakaway tour headed?", "outlet": "GolfMagic", "url": "https://www.golfmagic.com/tour/liv-golf/liv-golf-schedule-2026", "date": "2026-01-23" }, { "title": "Saudi Arabia: Freedom in the World 2025 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/saudi-arabia/freedom-world/2025", "date": "2025" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-qatar-simaisma-golf-club-2025", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "real-estate", "subject": "Qatar", "country": "Qatar", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (Trump Organization)", "amount": "$5.25 million (license fee reported in financial disclosure)", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2025)", "title": "Trump-branded golf club and villas announced inside Qatari state-founded firm's Simaisma project", "quote": "We are incredibly proud to expand the Trump brand into Qatar through this exceptional collaboration with Qatari Diar and Dar Global.", "speaker": "Eric Trump", "date": "2025-04-30", "venue": "Qatari Diar and Dar Global press release", "era": "term-2", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "On April 30, 2025, Qatari Diar signed an agreement with Dar Global to develop Trump International Golf Club and Trump-branded villas on about 790,000 square meters of its Simaisma coastal project north of Doha. Qatari Diar was established by the Qatar Investment Authority, the country's sovereign wealth fund, and is chaired by Qatar's minister of municipality. The announcement came two weeks before Trump visited Doha on the first major foreign trip of his second term. CNN reported that the Trump Organization had pledged in January 2025 to make no new deals with foreign governments; spokesperson Kimberly Benza told CNN the company has no affiliation, partnership or engagement with Qatari Diar or Qatar's government, that its branding agreement is with Dar Global, and that it \"does not conduct business with any government entity.\" Trump's financial disclosure for 2025 showed $5.25 million in licensing income tied to the project, according to CNBC and The National. CNBC said it found no evidence that the project influenced any agreements between the two governments.", "featured": true, "sources": [ { "title": "QATARI DIAR SIGNS STRATEGIC AGREEMENT WITH DAR GLOBAL TO DEVELOP TRUMP INTERNATIONAL GOLF CLUB AND TRUMP VILLAS, A BEACHSIDE ULTRA LUXURY COMMUNITY WITHIN SIMAISMA MASTERPLAN", "outlet": "PR Newswire", "url": "https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/qatari-diar-signs-strategic-agreement-with-dar-global-to-develop-trump-international-golf-club-and-trump-villas-a-beachside-ultra-luxury-community-within-simaisma-masterplan-302443059.html", "date": "2025-04-30" }, { "title": "Luxury skyscrapers, golf courses and cryptocurrency: Trump's rapidly expanding Middle East business", "outlet": "CNN", "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/13/politics/trump-middle-east-business-invs", "date": "2025-05-13" }, { "title": "Trump golf course deal announced in Qatar ahead of US president's visit", "outlet": "Middle East Eye", "url": "https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/trump-golf-course-announced-qatar-ahead-presidents-visit", "date": "2025-04-30" }, { "title": "Trump's foreign licensing business booms to $59.5 million as Gulf developers pay", "outlet": "CNBC", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/10/trump-foreign-real-estate-licensing-income-gulf-deals.html", "date": "2026-08-10" }, { "title": "Gulf developers bring windfall to Trump family", "outlet": "The National", "url": "https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/2026/07/01/gulf-developers-bring-windfall-to-trump-family/", "date": "2026-07-01" }, { "title": "Qatar: Freedom in the World 2025 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/qatar/freedom-world/2025", "date": "2025" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-mgx-usd1-binance-2025", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "crypto", "subject": "United Arab Emirates", "country": "United Arab Emirates", "beneficiary": "World Liberty Financial (Trump family crypto venture)", "amount": "$2 billion", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2025)", "title": "Abu Dhabi state-backed fund MGX uses Trump family firm's stablecoin for $2 billion Binance investment", "quote": "We thank MGX and Binance for their trust in us", "speaker": "Zach Witkoff, World Liberty Financial co-founder", "date": "2025-05-01", "venue": "Token2049 conference, Dubai", "era": "term-2", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "On May 1, 2025, World Liberty Financial co-founder Zach Witkoff, speaking on a panel with Eric Trump at the Token2049 conference in Dubai, said that MGX would use World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin to settle its $2 billion investment in the crypto exchange Binance. MGX is a state-backed Abu Dhabi fund chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's national security adviser. Forbes reported that stablecoin issuers typically earn the interest on the reserves backing their coin and that an LLC affiliated with Trump and family members owns about 38% of World Liberty. MGX told Forbes in October 2025 that it held no USD1, paid no fees to World Liberty and had not invested in the company. Senators Jeff Merkley and Elizabeth Warren asked the Office of Government Ethics to examine the deal, and Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic resolution invoking the foreign emoluments clause. In May 2025 the United States agreed to let the UAE buy hundreds of thousands of advanced Nvidia AI chips, according to CNBC. Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao in October 2025; lawyers for Binance and Zhao have said any suggestion that MGX's use of USD1 was connected to the pardon request is without foundation.", "featured": true, "sources": [ { "title": "Trump-Tied Stablecoin Used for MGX's $2 Billion Binance Deal (3)", "outlet": "Bloomberg Government", "url": "https://news.bgov.com/financial-accounting/trump-linked-stablecoin-used-for-mgxs-2-billion-binance-deal", "date": "2025-05-01" }, { "title": "World Liberty's Stablecoin Will Be Used to Close MGX's $2B Binance Investment: Eric Trump", "outlet": "CoinDesk", "url": "https://www.coindesk.com/business/2025/05/01/world-liberty-s-stablecoin-will-be-used-to-close-mgx-s-usd2b-binance-investment-eric-trump", "date": "2025-05-01" }, { "title": "MGX Says $2 Billion Binance Investment Used USD1 Because Of 'Compliance History'—But The Trump-Linked Stablecoin Was Brand New", "outlet": "Forbes (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/2id_/https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacheverson/2025/10/02/mgx-usd1-binance-trump-stablecoin-world-liberty-financial/", "date": "2025-10-02" }, { "title": "Inside Trump's Decades-Long Relationship With The United Arab Emirates", "outlet": "Forbes (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/2id_/https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2025/10/27/this-gulf-nation-is-powering-trumps-moneymaking-machine/", "date": "2025-10-27" }, { "title": "Luxury skyscrapers, golf courses and cryptocurrency: Trump's rapidly expanding Middle East business", "outlet": "CNN", "url": "https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/13/politics/trump-middle-east-business-invs", "date": "2025-05-13" }, { "title": "United Arab Emirates' 'Spy Sheikh' bought secret stake in Trump crypto company: WSJ", "outlet": "CNBC", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/01/spy-sheikh-stake-trump-crypto.html", "date": "2026-02-01" }, { "title": "Trump Family's New Crypto Bank Is 49% Owned by Group Behind $500 Million World Liberty Bet: WSJ", "outlet": "Benzinga via Yahoo Finance", "url": "https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/trump-familys-crypto-bank-49-094604795.html", "date": "2026-08-31" }, { "title": "United Arab Emirates: Freedom in the World 2025 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/united-arab-emirates/freedom-world/2025", "date": "2025" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-qatar-boeing-747-gift-2025", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "Qatar", "country": "Qatar", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (aircraft for presidential use; reported plan to transfer it to his presidential library foundation)", "amount": "about $400 million (estimated value)", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2025)", "title": "Pentagon accepts Boeing 747-8 from Qatar for Trump's use as Air Force One", "quote": "So I think it's a great gesture from Qatar. I appreciate it very much. I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer.", "date": "2025-05-21", "venue": "Remarks to reporters in the Roosevelt Room, May 12, 2025; acceptance announced by the Pentagon on May 21, 2025", "era": "term-2", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "ABC News reported on May 11, 2025 that the administration was preparing to accept a Boeing 747-8 from Qatar's royal family for use as Air Force One, with ownership to pass to the Trump presidential library foundation no later than January 1, 2029; aviation industry experts cited by ABC put its value at about $400 million. The Pentagon said on May 21, 2025 that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had accepted the aircraft \"in accordance with all federal rules and regulations.\" Trump said on May 12 that the plane would go directly to his library after he left office and that he would not use it, and wrote on May 13 that it was being given to the Air Force and Defense Department, \"NOT TO ME!\" ABC reported that Attorney General Pam Bondi and the White House counsel concluded the arrangement was legally permissible and did not violate the emoluments clause; Democratic lawmakers said it required the consent of Congress. A memorandum of understanding signed in July 2025 and reviewed by ABC called the donation unconditional and a \"bona fide gift\" and did not stipulate what happens to the aircraft after Trump leaves office. On September 29, 2025 Trump signed Executive Order 14353, which states that the United States will regard an armed attack on Qatar as a threat to its own peace and security. Trump unveiled the modified jet at Joint Base Andrews on June 19, 2026.", "featured": true, "sources": [ { "title": "Trump administration poised to accept 'palace in the sky' as a gift for Trump from Qatar: Sources", "outlet": "ABC News", "url": "https://abcnews.com/Politics/trump-administration-poised-accept-palace-sky-gift-trump/story?id=121680511", "date": "2025-05-11" }, { "title": "Pentagon says it has accepted Qatar's gift of a luxury megajet for Trump's use", "outlet": "NBC News", "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/pentagon-says-accepted-qatars-gift-luxury-megajet-trumps-use-rcna208300", "date": "2025-05-21" }, { "title": "Remarks on Signing an Executive Order on Delivering Most-Favored-Nation Prescription Drug Pricing to American Patients and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-signing-executive-order-delivering-most-favored-nation-prescription-drug-pricing", "date": "2025-05-12" }, { "title": "Donald J. Trump: \"The Boeing 747 is being given to the United States Air Force/Department of D...\"", "outlet": "Trump's Truth (Truth Social archive)", "url": "https://www.trumpstruth.org/statuses/31078", "date": "2025-05-13" }, { "title": "US accepts 'unconditional donation' of Qatari jet, cost of retrofitting is classified: Sources", "outlet": "ABC News", "url": "https://abcnews.com/Politics/us-accepts-unconditional-donation-qatari-jet-cost-retrofitting/story?id=124150583", "date": "2025-07-28" }, { "title": "'World's most luxurious plane': Trump unveils Qatari-donated 747 Air Force One", "outlet": "ABC News", "url": "https://abcnews.com/Politics/trump-unveil-qatari-donated-747-serve-air-force/story?id=134040929", "date": "2026-06-19" }, { "title": "Executive Order 14353—Assuring the Security of the State of Qatar", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/executive-order-14353-assuring-the-security-the-state-qatar", "date": "2025-09-29" }, { "title": "Qatar: Freedom in the World 2025 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/qatar/freedom-world/2025", "date": "2025" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-vietnam-hung-yen-approval-2025", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "real-estate", "subject": "Vietnam", "country": "Vietnam", "beneficiary": "Trump Organization", "amount": "$5 million (brand licensing fee reported by Reuters and in Trump's financial disclosure)", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2025)", "title": "Vietnam fast-tracked the $1.5 billion Trump golf resort and its prime minister broke ground during tariff talks", "quote": "motivated us to expedite this project", "speaker": "Pham Minh Chinh, Prime Minister of Vietnam (as quoted by NBC News, on Eric Trump's visit)", "date": "2025-05-21", "venue": "Groundbreaking ceremony in Hung Yen province, reported by NBC News and Reuters", "era": "term-2", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "In mid-May 2025 Vietnam's government, in a decision signed by Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, approved the $1.5 billion Trump International Hung Yen golf and residential project on more than 990 hectares along the Red River, and on May 21, 2025 Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh joined Eric Trump at the groundbreaking, saying Eric Trump's visit had \"motivated us to expedite this project\" and urging local authorities to provide maximum support. The New York Times reported that the project skipped typical environmental reviews and cut short a public comment period, moving from first filings to groundbreaking in about three months, and quoted a document saying the project was receiving special attention from the Trump administration and President Trump personally; a White House spokesperson said all of the president's trade discussions were \"totally unrelated to the Trump Organization.\" The approval came while Vietnam was negotiating to avoid a 46 percent tariff announced April 2, 2025; on July 2, 2025 Trump announced a deal setting a 20 percent tariff on Vietnamese goods. Reuters reported in August 2025 that Kinh Bac City and partners paid the Trump Organization $5 million for licensing rights, that farmers were offered $12 to $30 per square meter and rice provisions to leave the land, and that the Trump Organization would run the club but was not involved in compensation. CNBC reported in August 2026 that Trump's financial disclosure listed $5 million from the project and that it found no evidence the project influenced the tariff negotiations. Eric Trump also met Ho Chi Minh City officials on May 22, 2025 about a proposed Trump Tower in Thu Thiem. Freedom House rated Vietnam Not Free in its 2025 report.", "featured": true, "sources": [ { "title": "Trump Organization breaks ground on $1.5 billion golf club in Vietnam", "outlet": "NBC News", "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/trump-organization-breaks-ground-15-billion-golf-club-vietnam-rcna208169", "date": "2025-05-21" }, { "title": "Trump Group's $1.5 billion project in Hung Yen approved for investment", "outlet": "Viet Nam News", "url": "https://vietnamnews.vn/economy/1717813/trump-group-s-1-5-billion-project-in-hung-yen-approved-for-investment.html", "date": "2025-05-16" }, { "title": "Displaced Vietnamese farmers to get fistful of dollars, rice at $1.5 billion Trump golf club", "outlet": "Reuters via Yahoo News", "url": "https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/displaced-vietnamese-farmers-fistful-dollars-170020403.html", "date": "2025-08-11" }, { "title": "Vietnam bypassing its own laws to fast-track $1.5B Trump golf resort amid tariffs threat, report says", "outlet": "The Independent via Yahoo News", "url": "https://www.yahoo.com/news/vietnam-bypassing-own-laws-fast-175733614.html", "date": "2025-05-25" }, { "title": "Trump's foreign licensing business booms to $59.5 million as Gulf developers pay", "outlet": "CNBC", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/10/trump-foreign-real-estate-licensing-income-gulf-deals.html", "date": "2026-08-10" }, { "title": "Truth Social post announcing a trade deal with Vietnam", "outlet": "Trump's Truth archive", "url": "https://www.trumpstruth.org/statuses/31837", "date": "2025-07-02" }, { "title": "Vietnam: Freedom in the World 2025 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/vietnam/freedom-world/2025", "date": "2025" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-electronic-arts-buyout-pif-affinity-2025", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "investment", "subject": "Saudi Arabia", "country": "Saudi Arabia", "beneficiary": "Jared Kushner (Affinity Partners)", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2025)", "title": "Kushner's Affinity Partners joins Saudi sovereign wealth fund in $55 billion Electronic Arts buyout", "quote": "We're excited to support the company as it continues to reach new audiences, inspire the next generation of creators, and expand the ways people around the world connect through play.", "speaker": "Jared Kushner", "date": "2025-09-29", "venue": "Electronic Arts press release on completion of the acquisition, August 4, 2026", "era": "term-2", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "Electronic Arts announced on September 29, 2025 that it had agreed to be acquired for $55 billion, or $210 a share in cash, by a consortium of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake and Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners. Shareholders approved the deal on December 22, 2025 and it closed on August 4, 2026. AGBI reported that the Public Investment Fund controls nearly all of the acquisition vehicle and, citing Bloomberg, that Kushner introduced the fund to EA and led talks for months before the deal came together. The Saudi fund had earlier invested $2 billion in Affinity, according to congressional investigators cited by Reuters. A Morningstar analyst quoted by CNBC wrote that the deal was all but certain to close without regulatory hurdles, given the Saudi government's favorable relationship with the current US administration. Affinity did not respond to AGBI's request for comment.", "sources": [ { "title": "EA Announces Completion of Acquisition by PIF, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners", "outlet": "Electronic Arts", "url": "https://www.ea.com/news/ea-announces-completion-of-acquisition", "date": "2026-08-04" }, { "title": "EA's $55 billion deal delivers a win for investors, but raises uncertainty for gamers", "outlet": "CNBC", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/03/eas-55-billion-deal-delivers-a-win-for-investors-but-raises-uncertainty-for-gamers.html", "date": "2025-10-03" }, { "title": "Saudi wealth fund and Jared Kushner's Affinity finalize $55 billion EA Sports deal", "outlet": "CNBC", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/05/saudi-wealth-fund-jared-kushner-ea-sports-deal.html", "date": "2026-08-05" }, { "title": "Kushner's Affinity blurs the lines between politics and Gulf capital", "outlet": "AGBI", "url": "https://www.agbi.com/analysis/trade/2026/01/kushners-affinity-blurs-the-lines-between-politics-and-gulf-capital/", "date": "2026-01-23" }, { "title": "Kushner's Affinity's assets jump to $4.8 billion after Gulf cash injection", "outlet": "Reuters via Yahoo Finance", "url": "https://finance.yahoo.com/news/kushners-affinitys-assets-jump-4-163548585.html", "date": "2025-03-28" }, { "title": "Saudi Arabia: Freedom in the World 2025 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/saudi-arabia/freedom-world/2025", "date": "2025" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-diriyah-hotel-entities-2025", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "real-estate", "subject": "Saudi Arabia", "country": "Saudi Arabia", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump and family members (Trump Organization)", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2025)", "title": "Trump entities formed for hotel deal in crown prince-chaired Diriyah project days before his White House visit", "quote": "I have nothing to do with the family business. I have left, and when I've devoted 100 percent of my energy. What my family does is fine. They do business all over. They've done very little with Saudi Arabia, actually.", "date": "2025-11", "venue": "Oval Office remarks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, November 18, 2025", "era": "term-2", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "Forbes reported that in November 2025 a Trump representative created two companies, DT Diriyah Hotel Manager LLC and DT Diriyah Hotel Member Corp., which together gave the president an 80% stake in a hotel management agreement in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, with family members holding the remaining 20%. Trump's partner in the hotel deal was a Dar Global company, while the master plan for the area was developed by the Diriyah Company, which is chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The New York Times reported that month that the Trump Organization was in talks for a Diriyah development, and Diriyah Company chief Jerry Inzerillo told the paper, \"Nothing announced yet, but soon to be.\" On November 18, 2025 Trump hosted the crown prince at the White House, said the United States would sell F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia, announced its designation as a major non-NATO ally, and said of the killing of Jamal Khashoggi that the crown prince \"knew nothing about it.\" White House deputy press secretary Anna Kelly told Forbes, \"There are no conflicts of interest,\" and Trump Organization representative Kimberly Benza said the deal did not come together at the same time as the president was discussing a nuclear agreement.", "sources": [ { "title": "Trump's Business Pursued Saudi Deal As He Conducted Nuclear Discussions", "outlet": "Forbes (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/2id_/https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2026/07/23/trump-bolstered-saudi-business-connections-amid-nuclear-discussions/", "date": "2026-07-23" }, { "title": "Remarks Prior to a Meeting With Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-prior-meeting-with-crown-prince-muhammad-bin-salman-bin-abd-al-aziz-al-saud-1", "date": "2025-11-18" }, { "title": "Remarks at a Dinner With Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-dinner-with-crown-prince-muhammad-bin-salman-bin-abd-al-aziz-al-saud-saudi-arabia", "date": "2025-11-18" }, { "title": "Saudi Arabia: Freedom in the World 2025 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/saudi-arabia/freedom-world/2025", "date": "2025" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-kazakhstan-tungsten-venture-2025", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "investment", "subject": "Kazakhstan", "country": "Kazakhstan", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump (investors in Skyline Builders Group through American Ventures)", "amount": "$20 million (Skyline Builders' payment for 20% of Kaz Resources; the brothers' own stake was not reported)", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2025)", "title": "Kazakhstan's state mining company gives tungsten venture to a firm backed by a Trump sons' investment", "quote": "President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public, which is why they overwhelmingly re-elected him to this office despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses from the fake news media. There are no conflicts of interest.", "speaker": "Anna Kelly, White House spokesperson", "date": "2025-11-06", "venue": "Statement to Fox News Digital, published July 29, 2026", "era": "term-2", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "On November 6, 2025, during a summit of Central Asian leaders at the White House, Cove Capital and Kazakhstan's national mining company Tau-Ken Samruk announced a joint venture giving Cove Kaz 70% and the state company 30% of two tungsten deposits in the Karaganda region; the U.S. Export-Import Bank and the Development Finance Corporation issued letters of interest for up to $900 million and $700 million in financing. The Financial Times reported in April 2026, as summarized by Mining.com and bne IntelliNews, that Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump had invested in August 2025 in Skyline Builders Group through American Ventures, a vehicle of Dominari Holdings, and added money on October 28, 2025. On October 31, 2025 Skyline agreed to pay $20 million for 20% of Kaz Resources, a Cove subsidiary, and on April 30, 2026 Skyline and Cove Kaz announced a merger. The Financial Times reported there was no evidence that the brothers knew of the pending U.S. financing when they first invested or played any role in the award. A spokesman for Trump Jr. said he \"does not interface with the federal government on behalf of any company he invests in or advises\"; the Trump Organization told Fox News the investment was passive and made before the tungsten deal.", "sources": [ { "title": "Trump sons invested in US group developing $1.1B tungsten project in Kazakhstan: FT", "outlet": "Mining.com", "url": "https://www.mining.com/trump-sons-invested-in-us-group-developing-1-1b-tungsten-project-in-kazakhstan-ft/", "date": "2026-04-30" }, { "title": "Trump sons hold stake in Kazakh Tungsten venture backed by $1.6bn in US government funds", "outlet": "bne IntelliNews", "url": "https://www.intellinews.com/trump-sons-hold-stake-in-kazakh-tungsten-venture-backed-by-1-6bn-in-us-government-funds-440589/", "date": "2026-05-02" }, { "title": "Skyline Builders Group Holding Ltd and Cove Kaz Capital Group LLC Announce Merger Agreement (Form 425)", "outlet": "U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission", "url": "https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2031009/000121390026049722/ea0288487-425_skyline.htm", "date": "2026-04-30" }, { "title": "Trump sons' Kazakhstan tungsten deal raises suspicions, lawyer says", "outlet": "Fox News", "url": "https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-family-profits-from-blockbuster-deal-central-asia-despite-backlash-due-proof-problem-expert", "date": "2026-07-29" }, { "title": "Remarks at a Working Dinner With Leaders of Central Asian Countries and an Exchange With Reporters", "outlet": "The American Presidency Project", "url": "https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/remarks-working-dinner-with-leaders-central-asian-countries-and-exchange-with-reporters", "date": "2025-11-06" }, { "title": "Kazakhstan: Freedom in the World 2025 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/kazakhstan/freedom-world/2025", "date": "2025" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-diriyah-wadi-safar-golf-2026", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "real-estate", "subject": "Saudi Arabia", "country": "Saudi Arabia", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (Trump Organization)", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2026)", "title": "Trump-branded golf resort announced inside Saudi Arabia's Diriyah development", "quote": "We are proud to expand our presence with this landmark development", "speaker": "Eric Trump", "date": "2026-01-11", "venue": "Dar Global and Trump Organization announcement", "era": "term-2", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "On January 11, 2026, Dar Global announced Trump International Golf Club, Wadi Safar, a 2.6 million square meter site with a Trump-branded golf course, hotel and residences inside the Wadi Safar master plan being developed by the Diriyah Company, which Forbes describes as chaired by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The next day Dar Global launched Trump Plaza Jeddah, valued at over $1 billion, and its chief executive told Reuters the projects together are valued at about $10 billion. Trump had toured Diriyah during his May 2025 visit to the kingdom and hosted the crown prince at the White House in November 2025. Forbes reported that the announcement made no mention of the crown prince's role, that further Delaware entities named DT Diriyah Golf Manager were formed in April 2026, and that an existing entity, DT Marks KSA LLC, paid the president $9.2 million in 2025. Middle East Eye described Dar Global's parent, Dar Al Arkan, as having close ties to the Saudi government. The White House told Forbes there are no conflicts of interest.", "sources": [ { "title": "Dar Global and Trump Organisation launch luxury project in Riyadh's Diriyah", "outlet": "The National", "url": "https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/property/2026/01/11/dar-global-and-trump-organisation-launch-luxury-project-in-riyadhs-diriyah/", "date": "2026-01-11" }, { "title": "Trump Organization and Saudi developer unveil $10bn in projects", "outlet": "Middle East Eye", "url": "https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/trump-organization-and-saudi-developer-unveil-10bn-projects", "date": "2026-01-12" }, { "title": "Trump's Business Pursued Saudi Deal As He Conducted Nuclear Discussions", "outlet": "Forbes (via Internet Archive)", "url": "https://web.archive.org/web/2id_/https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2026/07/23/trump-bolstered-saudi-business-connections-amid-nuclear-discussions/", "date": "2026-07-23" }, { "title": "Seven projects, four countries: Mapping Trump's Gulf property empire", "outlet": "The National", "url": "https://www.thenationalnews.com/business/property/2026/09/03/where-is-trumps-property-empire-expanding-in-the-gulf/", "date": "2026-09-13" }, { "title": "Saudi Arabia: Freedom in the World 2026 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/saudi-arabia/freedom-world/2026", "date": "2026" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-affinity-gulf-fees-envoy-2026", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "investment", "subject": "Saudi Arabia", "country": "Saudi Arabia", "beneficiary": "Jared Kushner (Affinity Partners)", "amount": "tens of millions of dollars a year in fees (as reported by Bloomberg)", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2026)", "title": "Bloomberg reports Gulf states pay Kushner's firm tens of millions a year while he serves as Trump envoy", "quote": "My volunteer work for the President has focused on delivering for America, irrespective of any business or personal relationship, and my commitment to that duty is unwavering", "speaker": "Jared Kushner", "date": "2026-05-14", "venue": "Emailed statement to Bloomberg News", "era": "term-2", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "Bloomberg reported on May 14, 2026 that Affinity Partners manages billions of dollars for Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which have agreed to pay the firm tens of millions of dollars in fees annually, according to people familiar with the matter, while Jared Kushner serves as a volunteer envoy for Trump in negotiations on Gaza, Ukraine and Iran. Bloomberg reported that Kushner handed day-to-day management to deputies and that Affinity had been in talks to raise more money from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund but reversed course as he stayed on as envoy. Senator Ron Wyden and Representative Robert Garcia wrote to the White House and Affinity on March 19, 2026, and Representative Jamie Raskin opened a House Judiciary Democratic investigation on April 17, 2026, stating that Affinity had about $6.16 billion in assets with 99% of its funding from foreign nationals. White House Counsel David Warrington said Kushner is acting as a private citizen and is not subject to disclosure requirements, and spokeswoman Anna Kelly said his diplomacy has \"nothing to do with his private businesses.\" Bloomberg reported that Kushner did not meet an April 30 deadline to provide records to Democrats.", "featured": true, "sources": [ { "title": "Kushner disappoints Mideast clients who spent millions seeking sway", "outlet": "Bloomberg via The Spokesman-Review", "url": "https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2026/may/14/kushner-disappoints-mideast-clients-who-spent-mill/", "date": "2026-05-14" }, { "title": "Wyden, Garcia Investigate Kushner Raising Billions from Middle East Governments While Negotiating U.S. Foreign Policy", "outlet": "U.S. Senate Committee on Finance", "url": "https://www.finance.senate.gov/ranking-members-news/wyden-garcia-investigate-kushner-raising-billions-from-middle-east-governments-while-negotiating-us-foreign-policy", "date": "2026-03-19" }, { "title": "Ranking Member Raskin Opens Sweeping Investigation into \"U.S. Special Envoy for Peace\" Jared Kushner's Foreign Entanglements and Staggering Conflicts of Interest", "outlet": "U.S. House Judiciary Committee Democrats", "url": "https://democrats-judiciary.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/ranking-member-raskin-opens-sweeping-investigation-into-us-special-envoy-for-peace-jared-kushner-s-foreign-entanglements-and-staggering-conflicts-of-interest", "date": "2026-04-17" }, { "title": "Kushner's Affinity blurs the lines between politics and Gulf capital", "outlet": "AGBI", "url": "https://www.agbi.com/analysis/trade/2026/01/kushners-affinity-blurs-the-lines-between-politics-and-gulf-capital/", "date": "2026-01-23" }, { "title": "Saudi Arabia: Freedom in the World 2026 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/saudi-arabia/freedom-world/2026", "date": "2026" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-kremlev-trump-jr-wedding-2026", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "Russia", "country": "Russia", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump Jr.", "amount": "hundreds of thousands of dollars (as reported by ProPublica)", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2026)", "title": "Russian businessman close to Putin pays for celebrations at Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding in the Bahamas", "quote": "I have no idea who Umar is, never heard of him, and he didn’t pay for Don and Bettina’s wedding, which took place at a totally different location, and on a different day from the wedding. It was an ‘afterparty’ given in their honor. Not a big deal! I was not present at the party", "date": "2026-05-23", "venue": "Statement to NBC News, September 14, 2026", "era": "term-2", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "ProPublica reported on September 14, 2026 that Umar Kremlev, the Russian head of the International Boxing Association, covered hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses for Donald Trump Jr.'s wedding weekend in the Bahamas on May 22 to 24, 2026, including the rental of a private island and a fireworks display, paid through a Dubai entity affiliated with the association. It reported that President Vladimir Putin gave Kremlev the Order of Friendship the month before, that the association had been financed by the state-owned Gazprom, and that Ukraine has sanctioned Kremlev citing his closeness to Putin; he is not on public U.S. sanctions lists, and ProPublica said it was unclear whether he acted in coordination with the Russian government. Guests included Eric Trump and Jared Kushner, who was helping lead U.S. negotiations with Russia over Ukraine. Trump Jr. and his wife confirmed that Kremlev \"very generously hosted two incredible nights of celebrations\" after the ceremony and called it a gift from a friend; his spokesperson said the two have no business relationship. Kremlev's press office said he has never discussed political matters with Trump Jr. Representative Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, opened an investigation and asked Trump Jr. for records.", "sources": [ { "title": "Donald Trump Jr.’s Wedding Bankrolled by Putin-Linked Russian Oligarch", "outlet": "ProPublica", "url": "https://www.propublica.org/article/donald-trump-jr-wedding-bankrolled-russian-oligarch-umar-kremlev-putin", "date": "2026-09-14" }, { "title": "Lawmaker Opens Probe Into Trump Jr.’s Russian Oligarch-Funded Wedding", "outlet": "ProPublica", "url": "https://www.propublica.org/article/donald-trump-jr-wedding-umar-kremlev-payments-investigation", "date": "2026-09-15" }, { "title": "Donald Trump Jr. acknowledges Russian oligarch with ties to Putin hosted his lavish island wedding celebration", "outlet": "NBC News", "url": "https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/donald-trump-jr-russian-oligarch-umar-kremlev-ties-putin-wedding-celeb-rcna597735", "date": "2026-09-14" }, { "title": "Putin-tied Russian oligarch paid for Trump Jr.'s wedding celebrations", "outlet": "PBS News", "url": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/putin-tied-russian-oligarch-paid-for-trump-jr-s-wedding-celebrations", "date": "2026-09-14" }, { "title": "Russia: Freedom in the World 2026 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/russia/freedom-world/2026", "date": "2026" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-liv-golf-bedminster-2026", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "payments", "subject": "Saudi Arabia", "country": "Saudi Arabia", "beneficiary": "Donald Trump (Trump National Golf Club Bedminster)", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2026)", "title": "LIV Golf plays at Trump National Bedminster; Saudi wealth fund chief joins Trump at final round", "quote": "", "date": "2026-08-06", "venue": "Reported by USA Today and Front Office Sports", "era": "term-2", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "LIV Golf held its New York event at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey beginning August 6, 2026; the league had confirmed the venue on January 23, 2026 after dropping Trump National Doral from its schedule. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and LIV's former board chairman, stood alongside Trump ahead of the final round on August 9, Front Office Sports reported. The fund had announced in April 2026 that it would stop funding LIV after the 2026 season, and Front Office Sports reported that it would still have to approve any new investor. A White House official confirmed to USA Today that Trump planned to attend. The sources cited here do not state how much LIV paid the club.", "sources": [ { "title": "Trump expected at LIV Golf New York as league charts path to survival", "outlet": "USA Today via Yahoo Sports", "url": "https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/trump-expected-liv-golf-york-163343384.html", "date": "2026-08-06" }, { "title": "PIF's Yasir Al-Rumayyan Joins Trump Amid LIV Golf Funding Push", "outlet": "Front Office Sports", "url": "https://frontofficesports.com/pifs-yasir-al-rumayyan-joins-trump-amid-liv-golf-funding-push/", "date": "2026-08-09" }, { "title": "LIV Golf schedule 2026: Where is the breakaway tour headed?", "outlet": "GolfMagic", "url": "https://www.golfmagic.com/tour/liv-golf/liv-golf-schedule-2026", "date": "2026-01-23" }, { "title": "Trump weighs in on LIV Golf, PGA Tour after Saudis pull funding of startup league", "outlet": "Fox News", "url": "https://www.foxnews.com/sports/trump-weighs-liv-golf-pga-tour-saudis-pull-funding-startup-league", "date": "2026-04-30" }, { "title": "Saudi Arabia: Freedom in the World 2026 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/saudi-arabia/freedom-world/2026", "date": "2026" } ] }, { "id": "autocrats-tahnoon-world-liberty-bank-2026", "kind": "autocrats", "tag": "crypto", "subject": "United Arab Emirates", "country": "United Arab Emirates", "beneficiary": "World Liberty Financial (Trump family crypto venture)", "amount": "", "freedom_house": "Not Free (2026)", "title": "Entity tied to UAE's Sheikh Tahnoon reported to hold 49% of holding company for World Liberty's planned bank", "quote": "No one at World Liberty works for the U.S. government and there are no conflicts of interest", "speaker": "David Wachsman, World Liberty Financial spokesperson", "date": "2026-08-27", "venue": "Reported by The Wall Street Journal; statement to CNBC", "era": "term-2", "category": "ethics", "what_happened": "The Wall Street Journal reported on August 27, 2026 that Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE's national security adviser, and co-investors are behind StringZ Holding RSC, which owns 49% of WLTC Holdings, the holding company for World Liberty Financial's planned bank; an entity affiliated with Trump's family owns another 38%, according to CNBC's account of the report. Earlier in August 2026 the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency granted World Liberty preliminary conditional approval to establish a federally chartered national trust bank, which must meet further conditions before opening. CNBC reported that the administration had approved chip sales to G42, a UAE state-backed AI company controlled by Tahnoon, and in July 2026 eased limits on how many chips it could buy. World Liberty spokesman David Wachsman said the company neither seeks nor receives special treatment and did not address the reported ownership structure. A person familiar with the investment told the Journal it was never discussed with Trump, and the White House has denied any conflict of interest.", "sources": [ { "title": "UAE 'spy sheikh' takes 49% stake in Trump family crypto bank venture", "outlet": "CNBC", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2026/08/27/uae-spy-sheikh-trump-family-crypto-bank.html", "date": "2026-08-27" }, { "title": "Trump Family's New Crypto Bank Is 49% Owned by Group Behind $500 Million World Liberty Bet: WSJ", "outlet": "Benzinga via Yahoo Finance", "url": "https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/crypto/articles/trump-familys-crypto-bank-49-094604795.html", "date": "2026-08-31" }, { "title": "United Arab Emirates: Freedom in the World 2026 Country Report", "outlet": "Freedom House", "url": "https://freedomhouse.org/country/united-arab-emirates/freedom-world/2026", "date": "2026" } ] } ]