July 21, 2026
Mr. Blumenthal (for himself, Ms. Alsobrooks, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Coons, Ms. Duckworth, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Kim, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Ossoff, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Welch, and Mr. Whitehouse) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Rules and Administration
Directing the Senate Legal Counsel to bring a civil action in the name of the Senate to enforce the Foreign Emoluments Clause contained in clause 8 of section 9 of article I of the Constitution of the United States.
Whereas the Foreign Emoluments Clause contained in clause 8 of section 9 of article I of the Constitution of the United States (referred to in this preamble as the Foreign Emoluments Clause
) states that no present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind, may be accepted by the President of the United States from a king, prince, or foreign state without the consent of Congress;
Whereas the Founders included the Foreign Emoluments Clause in the Constitution—by unanimous agreement of the State delegations—to ensure the President would remain loyal to the Nation and the public interest;
Whereas the Foreign Emoluments Clause has long been understood to be
;directed against every kind of influence by foreign governments upon officers of the United States,
in the absence of consent by Congress
Whereas—
(1)
President Donald J. Trump has accepted a plane from the government of Qatar for United States Government use as Air Force One during the Trump Administration;
(2)
the plane required the expenditure of Federal funds to be refurbished, with a cost estimated to be between $400,000,000 and $1,000,000,000; and
(3)
the plane will be transferred nominally to the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library shortly before the expiration of his term of office;
Whereas President Donald J. Trump, his family members, and his advisors participated in corrupt dealings with the foreign government of the United Arab Emirates, its leaders, including Abu Dhabi royal and United Arab Emirates National Security Advisor, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan (referred to in this preamble as Tahnoon
), and multiple entities, including—
(1)
in January 2025, lieutenants to Tahnoon secretly signed a deal with Eric Trump, the President’s son, to purchase a 49 percent stake in the Trump family cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial, for $500,000,000, with $187,000,000 of that initial investment paid to Trump family entities DT Marks DEFI LLC and DT Marks SC LLC from the Tahnoon-backed Aryam Investment I;
(2)
on May 1, 2025, MGX Fund Management Limited, a Tahnoon-backed investment firm, also announced an agreement to use a stablecoin from World Liberty Financial to complete a $2,000,000,000 deal with Binance Holdings Ltd.; and
(3)
in a quid pro quo exchange for this investment and deal, the Trump Administration granted the United Arab Emirates access to 500,000 of the most advanced artificial intelligence chips in the United States annually, with 20 percent allocated for G42, an artificial intelligence company Tahnoon leads, despite longstanding United States national security concerns regarding the company;
Whereas Justin Sun, a Chinese billionaire with ties to the Chinese Communist Party, who is fighting a lawsuit brought by United States regulators for fraud and unregistered securities, invested $30,000,000 in World Liberty Financial and joined the platform as an advisor;
Whereas, in March 2025, Vietnamese authorities expedited a Trump Organization development project for a $1,500,000,000 golf complex, bypassing numerous legal obligations related to securing land and conducting environmental reviews, and whose groundbreaking the Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended, while the United States and Vietnam were in the midst of trade negotiations;
Whereas, in April 2025, the Trump Organization announced an upcoming development project for a luxury golf resort in Qatar to be developed by Qatari Diar, a company established by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund and chaired by a Qatari government minister, and Dar Global, the international subsidiary of a private Saudi real estate firm with close ties to the government of Saudi Arabia;
Whereas, in October 2025—
(1)
the President was overheard on recorded audio in conversation with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto discussing a call between Subianto and Eric Trump, who is President Trump's son and the Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization; and
(2)
the Trump Organization has 2 real estate projects under development in Indonesia;
Whereas, in November 2025, the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and his party in the Serbian parliament passed a law to allow for the development of a previously protected building site for a future luxury hotel and apartment complex backed by Affinity Partners, the firm of President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner;
Whereas, since the election of President Trump, the Trump Organization has announced additional developments and licensing projects in India, the Maldives, Oman, the Philippines, Romania, and the United Arab Emirates, netting the President and his family millions in license-fee income;
Whereas President Trump accepted a gold-plated desk clock styled like a Rolex and an engraved gold bar at a gathering of Swiss business executives prior to slashing Switzerland’s tariff rate from 39 percent to 15 percent;
Whereas—
(1)
President Trump launched a cryptocurrency memecoin, $TRUMP, shortly before taking office;
(2)
President Trump encouraged the digital coin’s purchase by awarding top buyers a gala dinner, a private VIP reception with the President, a tour of the White House, and a Trump-branded timepiece;
(3)
top buyers who participated in the events outlined in paragraph (2) included—
(A)
Justin Sun, a Chinese billionaire with ties to the Chinese Communist Party who is fighting a lawsuit brought by United States regulators;
(B)
Cheng Lu, a cryptocurrency investor from Shanghai;
(C)
He Tianying, a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference;
(D)
Sheldon Xia, the founder of a cryptocurrency trading platform backed by a China-based investment firm;
(E)
Sangrok Oh, chief executive of a Seoul-and Tokyo-based firm;
(F)
Andrei Grozovski, a board member for an Estonian company; and
(G)
others who have yet to be identified; and
(4)
President Trump netted $635,000,000 thus far from the memecoin;
Whereas the President of the United States has a constitutional and statutory obligation to uphold the public trust; and
Whereas the violation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause and corruption writ large undermines public trust and the integrity of public office in the United States: Now, therefore, be it
That the Senate Legal Counsel shall bring a civil action in the name of the Senate to enforce the Foreign Emoluments Clause contained in clause 8 of section 9 of article I of the Constitution of the United States with respect to the emoluments described in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, twelfth, and thirteenth whereas clauses of the preamble of this resolution by enjoining President Donald J. Trump from accepting any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind whatever from a foreign state without obtaining the consent of Congress.