October 18, 2019

CREW sued the State Department and Department of Homeland Security for failing to release documents related to the decision to host the 2020 G-7 Summit at the Trump National Doral Miami.

In July 2018, Axios reported that the Trump administration was considering Doral for the G-7 summit. A month later at a press conference, Trump was pressed on the conflict of interest that hosting the summit at G-7 at Doral would pose. In his attempt to justify this option, Trump mentioned that the military and Secret Service were involved in vetting the location.

CREW previously filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) letter requesting in part communications between Trump and the Secret Service as well as the State Department to understand the G-7 location decision making process. The requested documents would provide insight into what procurement and selection processes were in place that led to yesterday’s confirmation that the G-7 summit will in fact be held at the Trump Doral resort. Both the Secret Service and the State Department acknowledged receiving the FOIA requests but have not yet provided any responsive documents.

Trump has an extensive history of using his position of power to promote his private interests. The public deserves to know to what extent the decision to host the G-7 summit at Trump’s luxury resort was made to personally benefit the President and if the decision was vetted thoroughly and ethically. The Doral resort is at one of the busiest intersections in the city, and is located in southern Florida, which can be uncomfortably hot and prone to storms during the summer, both facts that should weigh against Doral as the location for the G-7 summit.

Lawsuit Documents