President Donald Trump has defended the Trump National Doral Resort after a 2017 story about the luxury resort’s bed bug concerns resurfaced on social media.
“No bedbugs at Doral,” Trump said. “The Radical Left Democrats, upon hearing that the perfectly located (for the next G-7) Doral National MIAMI was under consideration for the next G-7, spread that false and nasty rumor. Not nice!”
No bedbugs at Doral. The Radical Left Democrats, upon hearing that the perfectly located (for the next G-7) Doral National MIAMI was under consideration for the next G-7, spread that false and nasty rumor. Not nice!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 27, 2019
His comments came after people on social media started mocking the luxury resort while sharing the 2017 Miami Herald story, which sparked a trend with the hashtag #TrumpBedBug. They were reacting to the president’s remarks at the Group of Seven (G-7) summit on Aug. 26.
There, Trump told reporters that the Doral resort was being considered as a possible venue while touting its location and facilities as being the most suitable for the important economic meeting.
“It’s a great place,” Trump said. “It’s got tremendous acreage. Many hundreds of acres. So we can handle whatever happens. … People are really liking it. Plus, it has buildings that have 50 to 70 units in them, so each delegation can have its own building. So you’d have the seven various delegations, and they could have their own building … and they could have buildings for the press. … It’s very big. A great conference facility.”
“So we’re thinking about it. They love the location of the hotel, and they also like the fact that it’s right next to the airport, for convenience,” he added.
Trump’s suggestion has raised ethics concerns that hosting the next G-7 at the Doral Golf Resort could allow the president to profit off a government-held event. He was asked to address these concerns at a later press conference.
“Well, I’ll tell you what, I’ve spent, and I think I will, in a combination of loss and opportunity—probably it’ll cost me anywhere from 3 to 5 billion dollars to be president. And the only thing I care about is this country. Couldn’t care less [about the money], otherwise I wouldn’t have done it,” Trump said.
“People have asked me, what do you think it costs? And between opportunity of not doing a thing—I used to make a lot of money giving speeches, now I give speeches all the time. You know what I get? Zippo. And that’s good. And I did a lot of great jobs and great deals that I don’t do anymore. And I don’t want to do them, because the deals I’m making are great deals for the country.
“And that’s, to me, much more important.”
The president then reiterated that his administration was considering Doral Golf Resort as a potential venue largely due to its proximity to the airport and other facilities.
“My people looked at 12 sites, all good, but some were two hours from the airport, some were four hours—I mean they were so far away. Some didn’t allow this or they didn’t allow that,” he said.
“With Doral, we have a series of magnificent buildings. We call them bungalows. They each hold from 50 to 70 very luxurious rooms with magnificent views. We have incredible conference rooms, incredible restaurants—it’s like such a natural.”
According to the 2017 Miami Herald story, Trump National Doral Resort settled a lawsuit with a guest who claims to have been bitten by bed bugs while staying at the resort.
The guest claimed he woke up during the night with multiple bites on his back, face, and arms back in 2016, while Doral claimed that they were due to the guests own doing as he “conducted himself so carelessly and negligently that his conduct was the sole proximate cause or contributing cause,” the newspaper reported.
The 800-acre Doral Golf Resort was opened in the 1960s and features villa-style accommodations and several luxury event venue options.
