Trump Hotels ousted from Panama property amid dispute

PANAMA CITY — Trump hotel executives were ousted from their offices in Panama’s Trump Hotel yesterday, as Panamanian officials stepped in to resolve a 12-day standoff between Trump’s company and the property’s owners. Trump’s security guards also left the property, and crews immediately began stripping Trump’s name from the building.

The action began when a Panamanian judge and armed police officers escorted the head of the hotel’s owner association into the Trump-branded 70-story, luxury property on Panama Bay, with Trump’s security staff departing soon after. A legal dispute over Trump’s management contract at the hotel continues, but yesterday’s developments indicated Trump had effectively surrendered physical control of the property.

“This was purely a commercial dispute that just spun out of control,” said Orestes Fintiklis, a private equity investor and the head of the hotel’s owners’ association, shortly before entering the hotel management’s offices. “And today this dispute has been settled by the authorities and the judges of this country.”

A Panamanian judicial official told The Associated Press a statement would come later in the day. The Trump Hotel’s website had ceased offering direct bookings at the hotel by early yesterday afternoon.

“We apologize,” the site said. “There are no available rooms for your requested stay.”