By Trevor Hunnicutt
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Donald Trump will host the Group of 20 world leaders for a 2026 summit at his Doral golf club near Miami after skipping this year’s event in South Africa, the U.S. president said on Friday.
“I think Doral will be the best location,” Trump told reporters as he announced the selection during an Oval Office event.
The G20 comprises 19 member countries, the European Union and the African Union, which rotate hosting the economic policy-focused event. A date for the event has not been confirmed.
By selecting his own Trump National Doral Miami for a U.S. taxpayer-funded event expected to generate millions of dollars in hotel-and-restaurant revenue, Trump may reignite concerns he is profiting from his elected office.
A White House official said attendees at the event would be billed by Doral at-cost for the services provided.
The White House has rejected any conflict of interest claims, and aides have said that the president’s assets are managed by a third party.
Vice President JD Vance will attend this year’s G20 summit in South Africa, Trump said.
The U.S. president backed off a plan to host the 2020 Group of 7 summit at Doral during his first term in office. At the time, some Democrats, Republicans and ethics analysts raised concerns that such a move violated the U.S. Constitution.
Trump, a billionaire real estate developer and investor, regularly blends the personal and the political.
Since taking office in January, he has brushed aside ethical concerns about the intersection of his business and policy decisions, and the influence sought by wealthy donors, investors and foreign countries.
Trump’s business interests span meme coins and crypto tokens, and licensing deals like those for Trump-branded bibles, watches and sneakers. Such ventures have reportedly netted the president hundreds of millions of dollars in wealth on paper in just a few months.
He has hosted foreign leaders and corporate executives at his properties in the United States and abroad, including his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, and golf clubs from the Washington area to Bedminster, New Jersey, and Scotland.
Beyond the golf course, the Doral property includes a clubhouse, pool, restaurants, spa and some 100,000 square feet (9,300 square meters) of event space, including the Donald J. Trump Grand Ballroom, according to the official website.
Prior to Trump taking office, the State Department in January requested proposals from U.S. cities wishing to host the G20 event. At the time, they estimated that meetings would take place in early-to-mid October 2026. It was not immediately clear whether Doral or next-door Miami were among the cities to make proposals.
Trump suggested in July that he may not attend the G20 summit in November of this year due to friction with its host, South Africa, over Pretoria’s policies on land and Israel.
It’s not clear which leaders will attend Trump’s G20. The group includes China and Russia, whose president Vladimir Putin faces a war-crime arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Richard Chang)
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