The widely varying definitions means some hotels can show big profits, while others show very little, even if they are doing equally well. Hotel management professor Bjorn Hanson said there is no commonly accepted definition of profits in the industry. Senate Committee on Finance, asked the Treasury in a letter sent Thursday to provide details on the payment, including a breakdown of how the payment was processed and whether any conditions were attached to it. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., the ranking member of the U.S. Public Citizen sent a letter to the Trump Organization last month because their methodology would seemingly not provide a donation from any unprofitable properties receiving foreign government revenue. It said it would send the Treasury only profits obviously tied to foreign governments, and not ask guests questions about the source of their money because that would "impede upon personal privacy and diminish the guest experience of our brand." In an eight-page pamphlet provided by the Trump Organization to the House Oversight Committee in May, the company provided more details. It also cited an accounting standard called the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry, but that standard doesn't provide a definition for profit, Hanson said. In its statement Friday, it said made its calculation according to "our policy," but didn't say what that policy was.
As a privately held company, The Trump Organization isn't required to disclose its definition of profit.