President Trump decried the Constitution’s “phony emoluments clause” as he defended his original decision to host next year’s G-7 summit at his Doral resort in Miami.
On Saturday, Trump walked back his decision to hold the gathering of world leaders at his Florida property after the announcement drew bipartisan criticism and brought questions of whether he would be violating the clause in the Constitution that prohibits a president from profiting from foreign governments.
“You people with this phony emoluments clause,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.
Trump claimed hosting the meeting at the Trump National Doral Miami resort would have saved taxpayer dollars because he would have “given it for nothing.”
The president has blamed Democrats and the media for his walk back, but both Republicans and Democrats expressed concern over the use of the resort for the G-7.
