Oil lobby group holding event at Trump hotel before meeting White House on tariffs: report

The American Petroleum Institute (API) is reportedly holding a board meeting at President Trump’s Washington, D.C., hotel before the lobbying group’s executive board attends a White House meeting to express concerns about new tariffs on steel imports.

The two-day board meeting began Wednesday, according to Politico, which added that as many as 200 people from the oil industry could be paying to stay at one of the properties owned by Trump’s private business, the Trump Organization.

API’s executive board is slated to go to the White House on Thursday to discuss Trump’s proposed tariffs on steel imports and his threats to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), according to the news outlet.

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A Trump International Hotel receptionist confirmed to Politico that API was holding an event at the Washington hotel. A spokesperson for API also told the news outlet that a board meeting was taking place, but did not confirm the venue.

Trump put his two elder sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, in charge of day-to-day operations at the Trump Organization before he took office last year. 

But the president has declined to fully divest from his business empire, spurring concerns among ethics experts about potential conflicts of interest.

Trump’s D.C. hotel has also hosted foreign officials and embassy events, prompting questions by some ethics watchdogs about whether Trump is in violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which bars federal officials from accepting payments of gifts from foreign governments.