Donald Trump is receiving backlash from former and current ethics watchdogs after it was reported that he reportedly asked the U.S. ambassador to Britain, Woody Johnson, to see “if the British government could help steer” the prestigious British Open golf tournament to be moved to his Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland.
According to a new report by The New York Times, Trump tried to get the British Open tournament to be held at his failed resort in Scotland back in 2018. The event was set to be held in 2020 but was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Johnson reportedly ignored ethics concerns raised by his then-deputy, Lewis Lukens, and floated the idea with the secretary of state for Scotland, David Mundell, according to the Times.
Noah Bookbinder, executive director of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington watchdog group, tweeted it was “hard to think of a better example of using the presidency for personal gain in ways that could affect international relations.”
Our ambassador, at President Trump's urging, reportedly asked the British government to steer the British Open to Trump's club. Hard to think of a better example of using the presidency for personal gain in ways that could affect international relations.https://t.co/JHTVS9a8du
— Noah Bookbinder (@NoahBookbinder) July 21, 2020
Walter Shaub, the former head of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, also criticized Trump for his attempt to use his presidency to make money:
. . . because, after all, what's an Ambassadorship for, if not for misusing your position to ask a foreign government to give your boss an unconstitutional emolument or two? https://t.co/XFhUPRGzDx
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) July 22, 2020
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