$70M LOSS FOR DON’S D.C. HOTEL
Report: Slipped while he was Prez
The 2020 election isn’t ex-President Donald Trump’s only big loss.
A House committee claims The Trump Organization lost $70 million on its Washington, D.C., hotel while Trump was in office, despite having $3.7 million poured into it from foreign governments.
The foreign government money spent at the hotel is raising ethics concerns as a possible conflict of interest. The Trump Organization leases from the federal government the former post office that houses the Trump International Hotel D.C.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), who oversees that House committee, said in a statement that documents it has obtained raise concerns about Trump’s role as “landlord and tenant.”
At one point, Deutsche Bank allegedly granted Trump a reprieve on loan payments amid the financial woes of his business. The committee report also claims Trump had to move $27 million from his other businesses into the money-bleeding Washington hotel.
While the COVID pandemic has taken a toll on the hospitality industry, audit records obtained by the House committee reportedly indicate Trump’s hotel in the nation’s capital incurred steep losses, despite big spending by lobbyists, business operators and political groups.
Financial disclosures from 2016 through 2020 indicated Trump took in $156 million from the hotel, the committee noted. His company has been trying to unload the 263-room business since 2019. Its price tag was around $500 million.
The Trump Organization charged in a statement that the House committee demonstrates “a fundamental misunderstanding of basic accounting principles” and called its findings “intentionally misleading, irresponsible and unequivocally false.”
It also alleged the committee was a politically motivated attempt to “defame Trump.” Deutsche Bank reportedly told CNN the committee made “several inaccurate statements” with regards to its loan agreement with the Trump Organization.
Axios reported last month that the former president was in “advanced talks” to hand off its 60-year lease on the property, which was announced in 2013, well before Trump launched his candidacy for the White House.
Real estate site The Real Deal reports major hotel chains and investors have had conversations about acquiring the 122-year-old property at 1100 Pennsylvania Ave. — which is five blocks from the White House.
Forbes this week released its list of the 400 richest Americans and for the first time in 25 years, Trump didn’t make the cut. That report found the former president would have been considerably wealthier today had he followed ethics advisers recommendations to diversify his assets when he took office.
While tech and cryptocurrencies did well during the pandemic, that wasn’t the case for big city real estate. Trump is still said to be worth $2.5 billion.
The 75-year-old real estate mogul is considered a front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination should he decide to run. Reports from earlier in the week claim Trump was convinced by advisers that he will have more clout within the Republican Party should he keep his powder dry a little longer.