RNC to host winter meetings at Trump’s Doral resort

The Republican National Committee (RNC) will hold its winter meetings at one of President Trump’s family properties early next year, a spokesman confirmed Thursday.

The annual RNC gathering will take place at Trump National Doral outside Miami. The same property was chosen to host the Group of Seven (G-7) summit next year, but that decision was quickly reversed in the face of bipartisan backlash.

The winter meetings will take place in January. Doral has been the chosen site for some time, as the RNC signed the contract for the venue in March.{mosads}

Most of the RNC’s recent meetings have taken place at locations not owned by Trump, though the organization did hold its 2018 summer gathering at Doral.

Still, a spokesman asserted that the site had more to do with logistics than serving the president’s brand.

“The media is obsessed with our spending at Trump properties and has covered it ad nauseam. As we have stated multiple times, we continue to hold events at them because they have fantastic service and secure spaces that fit our needs,” RNC spokesman Michael Ahrens said in a statement.

The decision is likely to draw criticism from outside groups that have accused Trump of using the presidency to enrich his family’s brand.

The Doral property in particular has struggled to keep revenues up since Trump launched his presidential campaign, according to reporting from The Washington Post.

The White House originally announced in October that the Doral property would host next year’s G-7 summit. However, Trump announced days later that he would find a new location amid intense bipartisan backlash over using one of his family’s properties for the gathering of world leaders. 

He regularly visits his golf club in Virginia during the summer and stays at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in the winter.

Vice President Pence also sparked controversy when he opted to stay at a Trump property in Doonbeg, Ireland, rather than in Dublin, where he was meeting with Irish officials.