The No-New-Foreign-Deals Pledge and the Scotland Expansion
What happened
promisedocumented 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
actiondocumented 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
outcomereported 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
limitationreported 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
People and organizations
- Aberdeenshire community and planning authorityaffected party
- Trump International Golf Links Scotlandbeneficiary
Assessment
The expansion continued a preexisting foreign property, so it fell inside the company's own reading of its pledge. Whether that reading matched the public meaning of no new foreign deals stayed disputed.