'Just admitted to another illegal act': Trump draws flak as he addresses allegations that he got $7.8M from foreign governments

DES MOINES, IOWA: During a Fox News Town Hall in Iowa on Wednesday night, former President Donald Trump criticized Hunter Biden for selling his artwork at high prices.

Trump also took shots at the report released by the House Democrats, claiming that he did not receive "$8 million for doing nothing like Hunter (Biden)."

The report, which was published by House Democrats last week, alleges that approximately 20 foreign governments, including China and Saudi Arabia, spent at least $7.8 million at Trump-owned properties while he was serving as the US President.

At the Fox News Town Hall, held on January 10, Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier questioned Trump about the report in front of a live audience.

What did Donald Trump say about the report by House Democrats?

"I don't get $8 million for doing nothing like Hunter," Trump said in the Fox News exclusive town hall, adding. "I don't get I don't get $500,000. I don't get $500,000 for doing a painting. It's not a bad idea, I guess, if you can get away with it. When I heard that when I said there's no way they get away with that. But they got away with that. I guess they got away with it."

The former President also claimed, "Now we have you know, there was an emoluments lawsuit against me where the radical left, sued me for that, and I won the suit."

In response to a query concerning claims made by Democrats that Trump unlawfully benefited from his businesses while seated in the Oval Office, Trump addressed the matter by saying, “I own hotels, all over the, I don't get free money."

The 77-year-old GOP presidential frontrunner continued, "Somebody rents a hotel room, etc, etc. Much money I gave back. In fact, I didn't have to do it. You know, George Washington was a very rich man. People don't know that, in his essentially White House, which wasn't built, but they had an office, he had a business desk and he had a country desk right next to each other. You're allowed to do that. I didn't do it."

"I put everything in trust. And if I have a hotel and somebody comes in from China, that's a small amount of money. And it sounds like a lot of money. That's a small. But I was doing services for that. People were staying in these massive hotels, these beautiful hotels, because I have the best hotels, I have the best clubs, I have the best clubs, I have great stuff and they stay there and they pay," he replied.

The report brought forward by the House Democrats is sourced from the Financial Times, which reveals that the Chinese government and its affiliated entities have emerged as the biggest spenders at the properties owned by former US President, Donald Trump, having paid a sum of $5.5 million at his establishments in New York, Washington, and Las Vegas.

Following China, Saudi Arabia and its royal family occupied the second spot on the list, having spent over $600,000.

The 156-page report further revealed that state-linked entities from Congo, Malaysia, Albania, and Kosovo have also spent money at Trump-owned hotels and apartments.

The House Democrats had initiated a year-long investigation to examine whether the former President and business magnate had personally benefited from his tenure in the White House.

According to a report from CNBC TV18, the investigation relied predominantly on documents obtained from Trump's erstwhile accounting firm, Mazars.

Internet slams Donald Trump for saying $8M is a quite small amount

People on X criticized the former POTUS for admitting live on-air that entities associated with foreign governments exclusively stayed at his establishments by way of which he pocketed close to 8 million dollars, which to him, is still a minuscule sum of money.

One X user remarked, “He just admitted to another illegal act. Only question now is how much will that bump him up in the polls?"

""I don't get 8 million dollars for doing nothing". As if it's only 8m. But please, go on....," another user quipped.

Another user wrote, "Basically, that's a confession."

"Guess it doesn't take much to buy state secrets from Trump," one user said.

Another X user remarked, "That’s an interesting admission."

One user tweeted, "Donald Trump knows how to dig his own grave. That's the problem. he was "doing services for them," as if the presidency was just a side gig, while he worked his businesses."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.