>> The Air Force has launched an investigation into overnight accommodations by members of
the military.
Their fear is that these individuals are staying at Trump properties specifically to help Donald
Trump enrich himself and make a little bit of money.
Now, this was a big story last week when we found out that Mike Pence was staying at one
of his resorts in Ireland, and Pence was asked about that.
What did he have to say again?
>> That you're enriching the President.
What's your response to that criticism?
>> It's wonderful to be back in Ireland.
>> Yeah, a little bit of a disaster.
So let me give you more details into this Air Force probe into the military.
Now, what they found was that through a review, there were additional instances of military
personnel staying at Trump properties.
And the C-17 crew's overnight stay at Trump's Turnberry resort in Scotland earlier this
year was not an isolated incident.
Now, that was a story that was reported earlier, but Politico did a little more digging.
And they found that the Air Force's use of the Prestwick airport has also steadily grown.
The use of the facility has nearly tripled, and overnights in the area increased more
than five-fold, the Air Force acknowledged.
And during the Trump administration, even before while he was running, the amount of
federal money spent on these properties has accumulated to about $5 million.
In the four years prior to Trump's presidency, around $119,000 was spent on Trump resorts
when it came to some of these overnight stays.
So it gives you a sense of how much members of our military or our politicians are spending
time in Trump resorts throughout the world.
And it's being paid by us, US taxpayers.
Now remember, Trump hasn't divested from these businesses.
They're still very much his businesses.
He's making money off of these stays.
It's not like these people are staying there for free.
And I'm gonna get into some more numbers, but from 2015 to 2019, Air Mobility Command
aircraft stopped at the civil airport 936 times.
Of those, crews stayed overnight in the area 659 times.
And I'm gonna break down some of those stays by the year in just a minute, but I wanted
to open it up to the panel.
>> I think the Air Force deserves kudos for probing deep and uncovering this.
Because sorry, I'm so inappropriate on TYT.
But no, it's the truth, though, because, listen, they are an arm of the Armed Forces, which
is our Commander in Chief is in charge of, right?
>> Right.
>> But even they realize the magnitude of how bad this looks regardless of whatever's
going on behind closed doors.
There could be conversations that could be had.
They're like, okay, that's great, but the public sees this as a problem and this can
become an even greater problem if more things are uncovered.
So I think it's amazing that they're saying, we're gonna do our own investigation and get
back to you on this.
>> Right.
>> Well, I think this General Ed Thomas, he's basically saying, look, it ain't me.
Cuz he says in here, he says that even if the crews follow all directives and guidance,
we must still be considerate of perceptions of not being good stewards.
In other words, it looked bad.
They can make the rule and make no mistake.
Someone's telling them to go here, okay?
What they're doing, this is a stop along the way to the Middle East or whatever, and then
pass, they've been stopping at military bases and staying in barracks or stopping it.
Now suddenly, you go out of your way.
If you look at a map, going to Scotland, you're kinda going out of your way to hit this little
tiny airport to refuel.
And it just happens to be the only hotel in town is Trump's super expensive golf resort.
>> Yes.
>> Now to the Air Force people, it's probably great, cuz they're not used to sleeping in
a luxury golf resort, right?
So you can't blame the flight crew if suddenly they're allowed.
If they say, hey, detour here and stay in this nice hotel, they're gonna do it, but-
>> But it is fascinating because there are members of the Air Force who have complained,
because while they're staying at that resort, they're reliant on their per diem in order
to eat.
>> Right, they can't afford anything.
>> And they can't afford the food at the resort.
I mean, I completely agree with you, they're being pressured or, in the very least, someone's
suggesting to them to stay at these properties.
And if you can recall last week when we covered Mike Pence's stay at the Ireland resort, Marc
Short, who is Pence's chief of staff, told the press, yeah, Trump suggested that he stay
there and he stayed there.
So there's no reason to believe that Trump isn't suggesting that members of the military
stay at his other resorts, including this one in Scotland.
>> I don't mean to interrupt you, but with Pence, it was a suggestion.
With the Air Force, it's an order.
They're ordered to go there.
I mean, that's how the military works.
The military doesn't work based on suggestions.
Somebody told them to go, instead of going where you used to go, like you said where
it costs $119,000 to stay, go here where it costs millions to stay.
And this is on top of the $100 million we've spent for his golf vacations.
>> That's right, that's right.
>> Don't forget that, just him playing golf has cost the US government $100 million, because
the Secret Service has to stay at Mar-a-Lago.
And whoever else has to travel stays at his resort.
It's ridiculous, it is probably illegal and- >> I mean, it's a violation of the emoluments
clause.
But if you have someone like Nancy Pelosi in democratic leadership who refuses to hold
you accountable, right, who refuses to push forward with an impeachment inquiry.
And now Democrats are becoming a little more serious about that.
But nonetheless, she's been hands off.
And when you send that message and tell Trump that he's above the law, he's gonna behave
as though he's above the law.
Just to give you these numbers, by the way, so in 2015, when it came to this particular
resort, Trump resort in Scotland, there were 95 stops, 40 overnights.
In 2016, 145 stops, 75 overnights.
2017, 180 stops, 116 overnights.
I mean, you guys see a trend here, right?
>> Yes.
>> Yeah.
>> It increases by the year.
2018, it increases to 257 stops and 208 overnights.
And the list goes on and on.
And so, again, I just wanna break these numbers down for you again.
Since January 2017, at least $5.6 million has been spent at Trump properties by political
candidates or party organizations, including by Trump's own political operation.
In the four years before Trump's bid for president, these same hotels and other venues collected
a total of only $119,000 in federally regulated payments.
>> Well, I didn't wanna be president before, but now there's money in it.
>> Right.
>> There's a lot of money in it.
>> And the writing's on the wall there from what we just saw.
I mean, of course, we're speculative, of course, that this is happening, but I mean, come on,
it's corruption at its finest, I would say.