The Mercury News

Mar-a-Lago sees boom in business

- By Julie Bykowicz and Stephen Braun

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s Washington hotel saw almost $20 million in revenue during its first few months of operation — a period that coincided with his election and inaugurati­on as the 45th president. His Mara-Lago resort in Florida, which he’s visited seven times as president, pulled in millions of dollars more than it had previously.

The new details were included in a financial disclosure that Trump voluntaril­y submitted Friday to the Office of Government Ethics, the first snapshot of the Trump Organizati­on’s finances since its longtime leader became president.

When he took office in January, Trump turned over the reins of his global real estate, property management and marketing empire to his two adult sons and a senior executive. But Trump did not divest, instead placing his enormous portfolio of financial assets in a trust controlled by the executive and Donald Trump Jr. He can take back control of the trust at any time, and he’s free to withdraw cash from it as he pleases.

On paper, at least, the billionair­e president’s finances don’t appear to have been upended by the time-consuming campaign and transition to power.

He has at least $1.4 billion in assets and reported at least $594 million in income from January 2016 through this spring. Those top-line numbers were largely the same as he had reported in his previous filing, which included all of 2015 and part of 2016.

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