"The New York Times" (The New York Times) - in a lengthy investigation in which 10 journalists participated - that more than 200 foreign companies, entities and governments have benefited greatly from President Donald Trump, through agreements with his resorts and hotels in exchange for facilities from his administration.
According to the investigation titled "The Swamp That Trump Built," the companies owned by the Trump family, during the first two years of his presidency, made about 12 million dollars in return for services from the president or his administration to 60 parties whose interests were at risk.
The newspaper stressed that the interests of these parties "have already been pushed forward in one way or another" by the president or his government.
She described Trump as a "businessman-president" who harnessed the interest-free culture in Washington for his hotels and resorts, and made millions by playing the "gatekeeper to his administration."
She emphasized that his actions came against his electoral promises in 2016, when he pledged at the time to drain the swamps of exploitation of influence, as he put it.
In fact, she said, Trump "did not fail to put an end to the culture of favoritism and meet the needs in the nation's capital, Washington, but on the contrary, he renewed and reinvented this culture, as the back rooms of government councils were transformed into places where public and private affairs are mixed, and dominated by the language of interests."
And the newspaper asserts that federal tax return data for Trump and his business empire, which was revealed by another investigation to the newspaper last month, showed that even when he capitalized on his image as a successful businessman in order to win the presidency, large swaths of his real estate holdings were under financial pressure and incurred losses during previous decades. .
But once he reached the White House, he and his family discovered a new and profitable source of revenue, and they are the people who want some kind of service from the President.
And the New York Times says, it is not hidden that President Trump conducted official transactions inside one of his properties, so that those who sought to benefit from his services were not shy about announcing their arrival in "the president's kingdom."
The investigation revealed - by reviewing hundreds of social media posts in addition to published news articles - that many of these beneficiaries documented and enthusiastically visited one of Trump's properties.
The newspaper mentioned that those who approached Trump in pursuit of their interests varied from foreign politicians, tycoons of the sugar industry in Florida, a Chinese billionaire, a Serbian prince, oil investors and small government activists.
The Trump administration gave them funding, laws, and land, and the president enabled them to secure appointments in task forces or even embassies.
President Trump has benefited financially from these services - confirms the newspaper - as the beneficiaries paid for the benefit of his family's business, and more than 70 groups supporting him, companies and foreign governments held activities on his properties that were previously held in other places, or new events that generated huge money for the president and his family. .
These groups included - the newspaper adds - religious organizations, especially evangelicals, who benefited from the president's popularity among their followers to collect donations and strengthen their influence.
Concerts and visits
The newspaper reported that Trump attended 34 fundraising parties held in his hotels and resorts, which brought his properties another $ 3 million in revenue, and sometimes “Trump used to line up the invitees to ask them what they needed from his government.”
Others - the New York Times added - could have “picked up Mr. President” at his “Trump International” hotel in Washington, where he liked to have dinner in one of the restaurants there, or during weekends at his resort “Mar-a-” Lago is on Florida Beach where he loves to appear at the "big day event" there.
The newspaper reported that it counted 400 days during which Trump visited one of his resorts and hotels since he took office four years ago.
In response to the investigation's revelations, White House spokesperson Judd Deer issued a brief statement saying that Mr. Trump "handed over day-to-day responsibilities for the highly successful businesses he built to his two adult sons."
He added, "The president has fulfilled his promise every day to the American people to fight for him, to drain the swamp (a phrase with many connotations used by American politicians), and to always put America first."
It is noteworthy that the New York Times said that it based its new investigation on tax return data provided by Trump, as well as what was revealed by some lobbyists to create a database of the names of entities that are associated with interests before the federal government that sponsored the president's property.
It also interviewed about 250 business executives, club and lobby members, employees of the president’s estate, and current and former administration officials who provided "a comprehensive description of how successful Mr. Trump's clients' relationship with his government has been, and how he has benefited from his reconstructed swamp."