The No-New-Foreign-Deals Pledge and the Scotland Expansion

2019-09-26

The No-New-Foreign-Deals Pledge and the Scotland Expansion

unresolved

Promised: 2017-01-11At Trump's January 2017 press conference, counsel for the Trump Organization said the arrangement would isolate him from the business, bar new foreign deals and donate foreign-government hotel profits to the Treasury.Open cited record · 2 sources
The record: 2019-09-26Local authorities approved a major housing and resort expansion at the Trump Organization's Aberdeen property during Trump's presidency.Open cited record · 2 sources2019-11-01The company said the expansion complied with its pledge because the underlying project already existed.Open cited record · 1 source
Who gained: Trump International Golf Links Scotland
Who paid: Aberdeenshire community and planning authority
Audit finding: unresolved
The expansion continued a preexisting foreign property and therefore fell within the company's stated interpretation of its pledge; whether that interpretation matched the public meaning of no new foreign deals remained disputed.
Causal strength: documented mechanism

Evidence chronology

promise2017-01-11documented
At Trump's January 2017 press conference, counsel for the Trump Organization said the arrangement would isolate him from the business, bar new foreign deals and donate foreign-government hotel profits to the Treasury.
- Time: Read a Transcript of Donald Trump's Press Conference on Conflicts of Interest2017-01-11 · Sheri Dillon remarks: no new foreign deals, limited information rights, compliance counsel, and donation of foreign-government hotel profits
- U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: Oversight Committee Requests Documents on Trump Organization's Treatment of Foreign Government Payments2017-04-21 · Bipartisan committee letter describing the January pledge and requesting implementation records
Open underlying ledger entry
action2019-09-26documented
Local authorities approved a major housing and resort expansion at the Trump Organization's Aberdeen property during Trump's presidency.
- U.S. Congress: Congressional Record, February 27, 20172017-02-27 · Resolution text discussing the no-new-foreign-deals pledge and Aberdeen expansion
- The Washington Post: The Trump brothers' claims that they no longer profit from foreign deals2019-11-01 · Scotland, Dominican Republic and Indonesia project analysis; existing-deal response
Open underlying ledger entry
outcome2019-11-01reported
The company said the expansion complied with its pledge because the underlying project already existed.
- The Washington Post: The Trump brothers' claims that they no longer profit from foreign deals2019-11-01 · Scotland, Dominican Republic and Indonesia project analysis; existing-deal response
Open underlying ledger entry
limitation2019-11-01reported
The sources do not establish that the expansion was a newly signed foreign deal under the company's internal definition.
- The Washington Post: The Trump brothers' claims that they no longer profit from foreign deals2019-11-01 · Scotland, Dominican Republic and Indonesia project analysis; existing-deal response
Open underlying ledger entry

Responses, legal status, contrary evidence, and limitations

limitation
The sources do not establish that the expansion was a newly signed foreign deal under the company's internal definition.