Paul Ryan offers GOP donors a reward that includes a night at Trump Hotel

(Image credit: NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

published 13 March 2017

For a donation of just $10, you could win a dinner with Donald Trump and one night's stay in his D.C. hotel. And no, this isn't a cereal box sweepstakes or a reward for a challenge on a reality TV show — it's a contest held by the National Republican Congressional Committee, offering GOP donors a chance at dinner with the president of the United States as well as a night in his hotel:

While President Trump has made moves to distance himself from possible conflicts of interest with his namesake hotel chain, the NRCC's incentive for donating to the Republican House re-election committee could easily reignite such conversations. "One never hopes for scandal but in this case the president is bringing it upon himself," suggested former President Barack Obama's special counsel for ethics, Norm Eisen, earlier this month. In January, Walter M. Shaub Jr., the director of the Office of Government Ethics, called Trump's refusal to sell his business holdings "suspicions of corruption."

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.