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Trump laments not hosting G-7 at his golf resort weeks after backing off the idea

"Very stupid people thought I would gain," Trump tweeted. "Wrong!"
Image: Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event at Trump National Doral in Miami, Fla., on Oct. 25, 2016.
Donald Trump at a campaign event at Trump National Doral in Miami on Oct. 25, 2016.Evan Vucci / AP file

President Donald Trump on Sunday complained that "very stupid people" were opposed to holding next year's Group of Seven summit at his Miami golf resort in a tweet that came just weeks after he publicly backed away from the proposal.

"Too bad we didn’t have the G-7 here," Trump tweeted, noting that Trump National Doral Miami was named Golf.com's resort of the week. "I offered to pick up the entire cost, would have saved at least $35,000,000 for the USA. Best location. Very stupid people thought I would gain. Wrong! Looking at Camp David. Will announce soon."

Last month, Trump announced that the Miami resort was no longer under consideration to host the international summit, tweeting he "thought" he "was doing something very good for our Country by using Trump National Doral, in Miami, for hosting the G-7 Leaders." The president added that Doral had many advantages, including "tremendous ballrooms & meeting rooms," and that hosting the event would come "at ZERO COST to the USA."

Trump first floated the idea of holding the G-7 in Miami during this year's summit in Biarritz, France. The idea came under immediate criticism that he was seeking to personally profit off the presidency, an issue that has come up repeatedly during Trump's tenure due to his frequent visits to Trump-owned and Trump-branded properties.

Trump is the subject of multiple lawsuits and congressional investigations accusing him of either using his office for financial gain or violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which bars any cash or gifts from foreign government officials to the president that are not otherwise approved by Congress. In August, the House Judiciary Committee announced it would probe efforts to hold the G-7 at Doral.

Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney told "Fox News Sunday" in October that Trump "still considers himself to be in the hospitality business," and that the president was "honestly surprised at the level of pushback."

"At the end of the day he still considers himself to be in the hospitality business and he saw an opportunity to take the biggest leaders from around the world and he wanted to put on the absolute best show, the best visit that he possibly could, and he was very comfortable doing that at Doral," Mulvaney said. "I think we were all surprised at the level of pushback. I think it's the right decision to change and we'll have to find someplace else and my guess is we'll find someplace else the media won't like for another reason."