Trump’s business earnings sag as revenue dips at Mar-a-Lago
President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump appears to have earned less from his vast financial empire last year as licensing royalties, rents and golf revenues fell at some properties, his financial disclosure shows.
Trump’s income was at least $421.3 million, according to the document released Thursday by the Office of Government Ethics, down from $452.6 million he reported the year before.
The disclosures, which provide incomes and the value of assets in broad ranges but aren’t definitive figures, are the latest glimpse of the president’s personal finances.
Business was slightly up at his namesake hotel in Washington. A short walk from the White House along Pennsylvania Avenue, it has become a magnet for Republicans, lobbyists, CEOs, foreign visitors and anyone else seeking to curry favor with a president who has chosen to maintain his business while in the White House. Revenue at the hotel rose 1% to $40.8 million, the disclosure Florida experienced a nearly 10% dip in revenue. shows.
Licensing royalties from several ventures, including at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida resort, fell last year as the president’s politics increasingly appear to have dented Trump’s brand.
There were several new sources of income last year. Land sales in Virginia, the Dominican Republic and New York generated around $7.4 million, the disclosure shows. And Trump also received at least $100,000 in rental income from his home in the Caribbean island of St. Martin.
Trump’s properties in left-leaning states such as California and New York appear to have taken a hit. Revenue at his public golf course outside Los Angeles dipped while golf courses and properties in his home state also experienced revenue declines.
Even Florida, a state he won in 2016, appears to have cooled to the Trump brand.
The Palm Beach resort Mar-a-Lago, where Trump often spends winter weekends, experienced a nearly 10% drop in revenue to about $23 million. Revenue at his nearby golf course in Jupiter fell by about $1 million, and the neighboring course in West Palm Beach also experienced a revenue dip. Those drops were larger than the $1.2 million increase in revenue Trump generated at his golf resort farther south in the Miami suburb of Doral.
In Washington, where Trump spends the majority of his time, business was brisk. His golf course in the suburbs and his hotel near the White House together recorded an additional $1 million in revenue compared to 2017, according to Trump’s disclosure.
Trump’s golf courses in Scotland and Ireland also experienced revenue gains after years of recording losses.
Trump’s debt increased to at least $315 million, the form shows, from $311 million the previous year. A property purchased in Palm Beach and financed by Professional Bank accounts for most of the increase.
Trump’s annual financial statement, required under federal ethics rules, provides the most complete look into the president’s income and the financial performance of his namesake business because he has refused to disclose his tax returns — reversing a four-decade precedent for White House candidates and presidents.