Trump's controversial hotel in D.C. will reportedly be sold and renamed
Former President Donald Trump's company has agreed to sell its Trump International Hotel operation in Washington, D.C., according to multiple reports. The deal is said to be worth $375 million and will result in the Trump name being removed from the landmark property that stands close to the White House.
The hotel's lease is being bought by Miami-based investment firm CGI Merchant Group, according to The Wall Street Journal, which says the company is working with another hotel chain, Hilton Worldwide Holdings.
In its new iteration, Trump's name will be replaced by the Waldorf Astoria brand on the massive historic property, which has previously been both a post office and an office building.
Members of the House Oversight Committee recently stated that the Trump family's company suffered a net loss of $70 million in operating the hotel. Monthly rent for the building is $250,000.
The Trump International Hotel location opened on Pennsylvania Ave. in the fall of 2016, just a few months before Trump was inaugurated. It quickly became known as an enclave for Republican allies of Trump, as well as a focal point for protests against the president.
Trump's dual roles as U.S. chief executive and local hotel owner touched off accusations that he had violated federal emoluments laws.
Trump faced a lawsuit over those claims, but the Supreme Court ended the suit after President Biden was sworn in. In new financial details that were released last month, congressional Democrats said foreign governments had paid an estimated $3.7 million to rent rooms in the hotel.
The Trump hotel in D.C. also survived an attempt to force the federal government to end the 60-year lease Trump signed for the building in 2013, because the contract language specifically stated that no "elected official of the Government of the United States ... shall be admitted to any share or part of this Lease, or to any benefit that may arise therefrom[.]"
Despite that contract, the General Services Administration said the Trump Organization was in compliance with the lease because Trump had shifted his financial interest in the building to a trust managed by his family and others. [Copyright 2021 NPR]
