An honorarium is sort of a funny thing because it's not really a payment, or at least that's the fiction. The theory is that it's more like a thank you gesture, very possibly at below market rates. Who knows what he actually said to CBP. If it was something to the effect of "Sure, I'm being paid for my speech," it's not hard to see this raising a flag.
There really is a broader lesson here that has nothing to do with the current US president or the US in particular.
Countries in general have a lot of rules about visitors working and what constitutes "working" from country to country. And many countries have rules about just about any business activities if you're on a tourist visa.
ADDED: Furthermore re: "things are fine, we've done it loads of times"
I don't get paid when I speak at events. But it's also the case that when I travel to Europe, I'm not sure I've ever been asked that question. It's usually "I'm attending a computer software conference" "in XYZ city" "I work for such and such" etc. If someone were getting paid, I could see it not coming up for years and suddenly it does for some reason and it's a problem.
An honorarium is sort of a funny thing because it's not really a payment, or at least that's the fiction. The theory is that it's more like a thank you gesture, very possibly at below market rates. Who knows what he actually said to CBP. If it was something to the effect of "Sure, I'm being paid for my speech," it's not hard to see this raising a flag.
There really is a broader lesson here that has nothing to do with the current US president or the US in particular.
Countries in general have a lot of rules about visitors working and what constitutes "working" from country to country. And many countries have rules about just about any business activities if you're on a tourist visa.
ADDED: Furthermore re: "things are fine, we've done it loads of times"
I don't get paid when I speak at events. But it's also the case that when I travel to Europe, I'm not sure I've ever been asked that question. It's usually "I'm attending a computer software conference" "in XYZ city" "I work for such and such" etc. If someone were getting paid, I could see it not coming up for years and suddenly it does for some reason and it's a problem.