Donald Trump says it’s OK that he got paid by foreign governments while he was president because he was “doing services” for them.
Trump participated in a Fox News town hall Wednesday night instead of the Republican primary debate. At one point, he was asked about a recent congressional report that found he made almost $8 million from nearly two dozen foreign governments during his first two years in office.
Trump dismissed the amount as “a small amount of money.”
“You know, it sounds like a lot of money. That’s small,” he said.
He then said that it was fine he had received so much money because it was payment for accommodation at his various clubs and hotels.
“I was doing services for them,” Trump explained. “People were staying in these massive hotels, these beautiful hotels.”
“I don’t get $8 million for doing nothing.”
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a report last week that found Trump’s businesses had received at least $7.8 million from at least 20 different countries. The report acknowledged that its findings were likely incomplete, as it covers just half of Trump’s presidency and transactions at just four of his more than 500 businesses.
The money came from some of the “world’s most unsavory regimes,” according to the report, and Trump never asked for congressional approval to keep the funds, as mandated by the Constitution.
The countries included China—which gave Trump $5.5 million, the largest sum listed in the report—Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Hungary.
The report came as Republicans are trying to impeach Joe Biden for allegedly benefiting from his son Hunter’s overseas business dealings. But the GOP has yet to produce any actual evidence of wrongdoing by the president.