Trump’s failing operations collected the COVID-19 relief during the pandemic, The Independent reported, even though the U.S. Constitution’s emoluments clause prohibits federal officials from accepting payments from foreign governments.Filings by the businesses in part blamed losses on Brexit — which Trump strongly supported — for disrupting supply chains. Despite the plush British subsidies, the businesses still slashed staff. The former president’s son, Eric Trump, who was put in charge of the resorts after his father’s election, defended the foreign government handouts, saying in one of the filings that they were “helpful to retain as many jobs as possible.”Nevertheless, he admitted, “uncertainty of the duration of support and the pandemic’s sustained impact meant that redundancies were required to prepare the business for the long term effects to the hospitality industry.”