# So, the President screwed the Media. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 20, 2019, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058 "2019-10-20T23:09:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058/81 "2019-10-21T21:25:03Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Serious question, ignoring the obvious conflict of interest, is the resort actually a good place to host such a summit? No. I’ve been to a conference at Doral - one with much less difficult requirements than the G7 meeting - and it wasn’t good. Bear in mind that this is a resort that opened in 1962 and has only been a Trump resort since 2012, and that it looks every inch of its 50 years of age. To be fair, its primary golf courses was good enough to host a PGA event until 2006. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058/82 "2019-10-21T21:26:52Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > **Tempe Jeff** lacks the cognitive skills to weigh in on anything. He just channels what he hears on Fox News, like a talking parrot attached to a parrot-to-text device. That does it! From now on, I’m going to continue to never go to Tempe. ---
**Author:** ![SamuelA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@SamuelA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SamuelA)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058/83 "2019-10-21T23:01:42Z")
Honestly, the Doral Resort doesn’t sound that bad. [Here](https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g680222-d143866-Reviews-Trump_National_Doral_Miami-Doral_Florida.html)it is with 4.5 stars on Trip Advisor with 2k reviews. Honestly that sounds like the hotel usually cleans the carpet and keeps the bedbug count down. Unless Trip Advisor scores can be manipulated or bought off, not sure. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058/84 "2019-10-21T23:08:02Z")
> [@SamuelA](#): > > Honestly, the Doral Resort doesn’t sound that bad. [Here](https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g680222-d143866-Reviews-Trump_National_Doral_Miami-Doral_Florida.html)it is with 4.5 stars on Trip Advisor with 2k reviews. Honestly that sounds like the hotel usually cleans the carpet and keeps the bedbug count down. Unless Trip Advisor scores can be manipulated or bought off, not sure. Anyone can write a review on TA, you don’t even need to have been within coo-ee of the joint. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058/85 "2019-10-21T23:12:28Z")
> [@SamuelA](#): > > Honestly, the Doral Resort doesn’t sound that bad. [Here](https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g680222-d143866-Reviews-Trump_National_Doral_Miami-Doral_Florida.html)it is with 4.5 stars on Trip Advisor with 2k reviews. Honestly that sounds like the hotel usually cleans the carpet and keeps the bedbug count down. Unless Trip Advisor scores can be manipulated or bought off, not sure. > [@kambuckta](#): > > Anyone can write a review on TA, you don’t even need to have been within coo-ee of the joint. And looking at the reviews, there’s an awful lot who have only ever left a single review on TA. That is definitely a warning sign. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058/86 "2019-10-21T23:14:01Z")
Really? Trump Tower in NYC, the place where he actually has his home, [has been documented as a dump](https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a49868/trump-tower-what-a-dump/), except of course for select areas. Other Trump properties have been the subject of numerous lawsuits from disgruntled investors and condo owners. #winning! ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058/87 "2019-10-21T23:14:38Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > Anyone can write a review on TA, you don’t even need to have been within coo-ee of the joint. It has a thousand more reviews than the next highest count of hotels in the area. I wouldn’t trust any review written in the last few years, either way. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058/88 "2019-10-21T23:20:32Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > That does it! From now on, I’m going to continue to never go to Tempe. If you feel a need to go down to the shithole states, try Tucson for the smoked beef burritos and New Mexico for the green chile everything. A weekend should be long enough to get you longing for civilization again. ---
**Author:** ![SamuelA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@SamuelA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SamuelA)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2019, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058/89 "2019-10-21T23:25:37Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > And looking at the reviews, there’s an awful lot who have only ever left a single review on TA. That is definitely a warning sign. So instead of just taking some of the $180 a night a room in this resort will cost you and spending it on cleaning and upkeep, they spend a smaller sum of money on manipulating the reviews of the place. And then ripping guests off with a shoddy experience with their honest reviews drowned out by the “fake news” of all the fake reviews. Sigh. Not only is this scummy and probably illegal, it’s not how you build long term value. Toyota doesn’t drown out all the negative reviews of their cars breaking down with ‘fake news’ - they instead spend a lot of their money actually making their cars better. They don’t have a spotless record but they have a decent one. For all the contractors Trump stiffed, doesn’t he end up paying all the money he saved and then some because other contractors charge a 20%+ “Trump premium” when they bid on jobs? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058/90 "2019-10-22T00:05:12Z")
> [@SamuelA](#): > > So instead of just taking some of the $180 a night a room in this resort will cost you and spending it on cleaning and upkeep, they spend a smaller sum of money on manipulating the reviews of the place. Or it may just be Trump supporters’ way of showing their support for the Dear Leader. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058/91 "2019-10-22T12:56:39Z")
A bill introduction that is likely to end as merely symbolic has an appropriate name. “A group of Senate Democrats introduced legislation Monday that would block the Trump administration from holding meetings with foreign heads of state at Trump-owned properties. Sens. [Jeff Merkley](https://thehill.com/people/jeff-merkley) (D-Ore.), [Ed Markey](https://thehill.com/people/ed-markey) (Mass.) and [Mazie Hirono](https://thehill.com/people/mazie-hirono) (D-Hawaii) introduced the Scrutinizing White House Activities that Make Profits (SWAMP) Act. … “It’s time for Congress to step in and make it crystal clear: [President Trump](https://thehill.com/people/donald-trump) cannot profiteer off of his meetings with foreign leaders — not with the G-7, not ever,” Merkley said in a statement.” > **[Democrats introduce SWAMP Act to ban meetings with foreign leaders at Trump...](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/466798-democrats-introduce-swamp-act-to-prevent-trump-properties-from-hosting/)** > > A group of Senate Democrats introduced legislation Monday that would block the Trump administration from holding meetings with foreign heads of state at Trump-owned properties.Sens. Jeff Merkley (D… ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058/92 "2019-10-22T13:10:19Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > No. I’ve been to a conference at Doral - one with much less difficult requirements than the G7 meeting - and it wasn’t good. Bear in mind that this is a resort that opened in 1962 and has only been a Trump resort since 2012, and that it looks every inch of its 50 years of age. > > To be fair, its primary golf courses was good enough to host a PGA event until 2006. I stayed there for a couple of nights last year (I’m in the travel industry, and this is where the event was). It’s a bog-standard Marriott or Sheraton with gold-colored fixtures. All of the security and logistics issues aside, I think it would be a pretty embarrassing place to “show off” to foreign leaders. I’m not sure exactly how many rooms are needed for the G7 to account for staff and security, etc., but I can think of a half-dozen much better locations off the top of my head, and I’m sure I could come up with a dozen more after a little research. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058/93 "2019-10-22T13:51:24Z")
As for how many rooms are needed, the answer seems to be thousands. [This NYT article](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/20/us/politics/trump-g7-doral.html) says, "The event draws as many as 7,000 people, including security personnel, news media, diplomats, heads of state and support staff, meaning an overall price tag that can run into the hundreds of millions of dollars, once security is included. The host government typically covers the cost of 20 hotel rooms per country — but that is the start of what each nation needs, according to a second former State Department official." ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058/94 "2019-10-22T15:01:53Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Really? Trump Tower in NYC, the place where he actually has his home, [has been documented as a dump](https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a49868/trump-tower-what-a-dump/), except of course for select areas. Other Trump properties have been the subject of numerous lawsuits from disgruntled investors and condo owners. #winning! Jeeze, my asthma is acting up and that link nearly killed me! I love how he acts like polished and lacquered architectural bronze is “gold.” ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2019, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058/95 "2019-10-22T18:48:04Z")
> [@carlb](#): > > I’m not sure exactly how many rooms are needed for the G7 to account for staff and security, etc., but I can think of a half-dozen much better locations off the top of my head, and I’m sure I could come up with a dozen more after a little research. I’m a little biased, but if I was going to host the G7, I’d do it in Orlando. More conference space and hotel beds than any non-megalopolis, and no security issues (heck, Disney already has [its own no-fly zone](https://gizmodo.com/disneyland-and-walt-disney-world-are-no-fly-zones-1661819311)). ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058/96 "2019-10-23T03:51:10Z")
You need to look at the \*important \*G7 conference requirements. Where else could Donny go golfing right on the property every time he gets bored with all the talking about stuff other than him? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058/97 "2019-10-23T06:00:31Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I’m a little biased, but if I was going to host the G7, I’d do it in Orlando. More conference space and hotel beds than any non-megalopolis, and no security issues (heck, Disney already has [its own no-fly zone](https://gizmodo.com/disneyland-and-walt-disney-world-are-no-fly-zones-1661819311)). If I had to host a conference in June, I’d do it in the Catskills. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058/98 "2019-10-23T13:36:50Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > If I had to host a conference in June, I’d do it in the Catskills. For sure. They’ll have the time of their lives. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058/99 "2019-10-23T13:50:19Z")
Dude! ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2019, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058/100 "2019-10-23T13:52:36Z")
> [@Bookkeeper](#): > > You need to look at the \*important \*G7 conference requirements. Where else could Donny go golfing right on the property every time he gets bored with all the talking about stuff other than him? He wouldn’t have been able to do it there, either, if the reports that the only place suitable to put the (required) helipads was on the golf course are correct. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-president-screwed-the-media/842058.md?page=6)