It took a few days before the republican President Donald Trump’s GOP cronies in the US Congress were able to to convince him to reconsider his public announcement that his Doral property in Miami, Florida would be the location for the June 2020 G7 Conference. It’s too bad that these GOP lawmakers haven’t been able do likewise with the president’s recent decision making regarding Syria.
In any event, on 10/19/ 2019, President Trump relented to where it’s official, that his Doral property will no longer be in consideration to host this G7 get together.
As per Wikipedia, “The Group of Seven (G7) is an international intergovernmental economic organization consisting of the seven largest IMF-described (democratically-run) advanced economies in the world: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States;between 1998 and 2014, the group included Russia and was known as the Group of Eight.”
Despite the fact that President Trump would have been in violation of the “Emoluments Clause” of the US Constitution where he’s barred from enriching his personal financial portfolio with funds from foreign governments, this property was a poor choice on several levels.
Because it’s hotter than Hades in Miami during the summer months, tourists head to beach vacation spots, and not to a resort next to the Miami Airport where the vacancy rate would be close to the typical 60% for non-beach Miami destinations, which means, that there was no way the president wouldn’t have benefited financially by reducing his financial losses during his Doral property’s slow season.
Then this nearby Miami International Airport location would have been a security nightmare because it’s situated in a typical sprawling Florida neighborhood, instead of a more secluded environment, bordered by waterways, like for instance, the Biscayne Bay area which is the largest estuary on the coast of southeast Florida and is contiguous with the southern Florida Everglades and Florida Bay.
Incidentally, the hurricane season in Florida starts on the 1st of June.
As per a Florida brochure, “Biscayne Bay encompasses a marine ecosystem that totals approximately 428 square miles, of which 350 are freshwater and coastal wetlands in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Monroe Counties. It’s home to Biscayne National Park, the largest marine park in the national park system, Oleta River State Park, Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, the Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve, Barnacle State Historic Site, and numerous local parks.”
“The bay is also the location of the Port of Miami, one of the largest passenger and commercial ports of call in the world. In addition, the Miami River, one of the largest tributaries to the bay, is a working river and is Florida’s fifth largest port and the primary service area of international trade to the Caribbean. The Miami River is also home to some of Miami’s most historic and scenic neighborhoods.”
“It supports important sport and commercial fisheries. It is a source of environmental education and recreation. Its waters and shores are favored for sailing, boating, snorkeling, swimming, bay viewing, and sunbathing. More importantly, the bay is ecologically significant, supporting and nurturing an enormous variety of wildlife.”
On the 19th of October 2019, Philip Rucker and David A. Fahrenthold of the Washington Post penned the following report, “Trump says his Doral golf resort will no longer host next year’s G-7 summit, bowing to criticism:”
Excerpts:
“The decision — while it lasted — was an unprecedented one in modern American politics: The president awarded a huge contract to himself. The White House promoted Doral as the single best venue in the United States to host the G-7 summit in June, and the meeting would have brought thousands of guests in the off-season to a resort that is struggling financially.”
“For months, Trump had touted Doral as an ideal venue to host visiting dignitaries, and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney made the choice official at a news conference Thursday (10/17/2019).”
“But in a rare reversal in the face of public pressure for a president who prides himself in rarely folding or admitting failure, Trump said Saturday that he and his administration would search for a new location. He attributed the concession to “Irrational Hostility” from Democrats as well as the media, although the revolt among some Republicans may well have been the trigger.”
“In a trio of tweets late Saturday, Trump wrote, “I thought I was doing something very good for our Country by using Trump National Doral, in Miami, for hosting the G-7 Leaders. It is big, grand, on hundreds of acres, next to MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, has tremendous ballrooms & meeting rooms, and each delegation would have . . . its own 50 to 70 unit building. Would set up better than other alternatives. I announced that I would be willing to do it at NO PROFIT or, if legally permissible, at ZERO COST to the USA. But, as usual, the Hostile Media & their Democrat Partners went CRAZY!”
“The president added: “Therefore, based on both Media & Democrat Crazed and Irrational Hostility, we’ll no longer consider Trump National Doral, Miami, as the Host Site for the G-7 in 2020. We will begin the search for another site, including the possibility of Camp David, immediately. Thank you!”
“I was aware of the political, sort of, criticism that we’d come under for doing it at Doral, which is why I was so surprised when the advance team called back and said that this is the perfect physical location to do this,” Mulvaney told reporters.”
“The White House had said Trump’s resort would only present an “at cost” charge for the summit, but never spelled out what that cost would be. The questions were still unanswered Saturday, when Trump pulled the plug.”
“Beyond questions about the ethics of a president awarding a gigantic summit to himself, there were also security questions: How could anyone seal off a sprawling resort set among neighborhoods and office parks?”
“Trump has been publicly pitching Doral as a G-7 summit site since at least this past summer. At a news conference during this year’s G-7 in Biarritz, France, Trump bragged at length about Doral. He cited its location near Miami International Airport, ample parking space, restaurants, spacious ballrooms, “bungalows” and “very luxurious rooms with magnificent views.”
“It’s like such a natural,” Trump said. “It’s not about me, it’s about getting the right location. I think it’s very important.”
See: Trump’s season of weakness: A president who prizes strength enters key stretch in a fragile state
Gronda Morin 
This Sunday morning on NPR I Iistened to an interview with David Cameron, I generally wake at 4:00 AM Pac Time to listen to Bloomberg Surveillance M-F.
NOTE: Not with standing I am familiar and experienced with the production processes of these kind of media interviews.
As I am listening somethng is “ seriously bothering me” and by the end I realize that there is not one single second that Cameron sounds like trump, the ranking members of trump administration or graham or mcconnell.
Agree with Cameron, his positions or not, as he discussess Brexit and his political career, I realized the words he says do not sound like he is mentally ill. He sounds like he understands events, issues, opinions, and feelings which disagrees with his and he evaluates things in a thoughtful manner.
Then I found myself comparing the verbal expressions of Cameron to the past two years in the US , and in comparison there is not one second that words from the mouth of trump do not sound like the verbalizations—or maybe rantigs is more precise—of a severely mentally ill and seriously ignorant human being hell bent of motivating Americans to kill other Americans.
Maybe ts not just trump but the whole US political landscape seems increasinlg seperated from any foundation in reality.
It seems its not just the Republicans, the Democrats with the media have turned which should be a discusson of issues and the development of a political campaign platform into a vicious and demeaning personality contest.
Anyway just some thoughts,
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Hello Gronda. As you mentioned there are serious concerns with using this site for the G-7 summit. It would need serious security upgrades, serious upgrades to the housing / conference areas, IT and communications upgrades, and helipads to mention a few things. All paid for by the tax payers, the US treasury. Then when it is over, what cost will it be to removed the things added just for the summit? Will the helipads be placed on the golf course so their removal will require the spending of millions to rebuild /recondition the golf course? A fresh new golf course paid for by the taxpayers. While tRump claimed he wouldn’t make a profit he would be able to use the fact that it was the spot of the G-7 summit itself as a brand selling tool for marketing. The fact that at that time of the year the occupancy rate is down, plus the place has a record loss of 62% operating income for that area to begin with, having all the necessary security , support personnel, and the governments paying for staff that normally would be coming out of the resorts expenses really does make this a huge money maker for tRump. This is a property he owns not just leases his name to. It is heavily mortgaged. It is operating at a 62% decrease in income. If he could have completed this deal it would have greatly enriched himself. Hugs
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Jill, it is not surprising the US president is blaming the Dems and media for this. It is a good, simple example of why Trump is not a leader. The G7 summit at Trump Doral was dumb the second it was announced. A person being investigated for abuse of powers, decides to openly abuse his powers.
Newt Gingrich said people close to the president should have told him this was a bad idea. Two points – reports indicate they tried. And, this was such a bad call, the self-proclaimed “stable genius” should have known better. It should be noted Neil Cavuto of Fox Business waa immediately critical of the announcement when Fox segued back from the Mulvaney press conference. Keith
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