Trumps Dc Hotel Hosted Officials From These 33 Countries After He Won The 2016 Election
Donald Trump and his wife Melania greet a guest following the grand opening ceremony at the Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C. in October 2016.
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Former President Donald Trumps Washington, D.C. hotel received an estimated $3.75 million from foreign governments during his four years in office, according to a calculation that House Democrats released Friday. The Committee on Oversight and Reform explained how it reached the estimate, but it did not name the countries who paid the presidents business.
So we are.
At least, were naming the countries whose foreign officials we know spent time there. A full accounting of foreign governments patronage of the hotel will probably never be known. But social-media posts, responses to Freedom of Information Act requests and investigative reporting have identified officials from at least 33 foreign governments who visited Trumps Pennsylvania Avenue hotel.
Trump Old Post Office Llc
- 2019 Revenue: $40,523,041
- 2019 Asset Value: Over $50,000,000
- Business Type: Hotel
This business is a holding company for the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., which operates in the Old Post Office building, a national landmark. Trump’s company holds a long-term lease on the property, owned by the U.S. government, which could last nearly 100 years with extensions.
The hotel was at the center of a major emoluments case against the former president. A group of hotel and restaurant owners sued Trump for violating the emoluments clause, alleging that he was unconstitutionally profiting from his office because his hotel gets the business of foreign officials staying there to curry his favor. The group argued that this gave the former president’s hotel an unfair competitive advantage against their businesses.
Possibly as a result of lawsuits and public criticism, the Trump Organization planned to sell its lease to the property. They were seeking a purchase price of more than $500 million, one of the highest-priced hotel deals per room ever. The sale process was placed on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump At Cap Cana: Punta Cana Dominican Republic
Trump at Cap Cana was an 8,000-acre oceanfront resort that would bear Donald Trumpâs name in exchange for a name license fee. Donald Trump finally filed a suit against the developers for $6 million because they failed to remit the monthly sales reports and the name license fee. It was thought that the 2008 financial crisis affected the developers.
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Trump Ice Natural Spring Water
Trump Ice was a bottled water brand. The winner of The Apprentice Season 2, Kelly Perdew, served as executive vice president of the organization.
The company’s website no longer exists, and the product can no longer be found in national grocery chains or stores but some can still be found on eBay and other auction sites.
The company was used as a gimmick in the show’s first season when contestants marketed and sold the product.
Apartments At Trump Tower In Kolkata Set To Be Completed In 2020 Are Billed As Luxurious Yet Reasonably Priced
The Times of India reported that apartments at Trump Tower Kolkata are about half the price of standard Trump condos in India, which sell for between $1 million and $20 million.
“Like other Trump Towers, it is an address that one can flaunt and gain immediate attention and recognition,” a managing partner at the building’s codeveloper, Tribeca, told the paper. “Trump is a successful name in real estate that no one questions even today.”
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Donald Trump The Businessman
Donald J. Trump, the nation’s 45th president, is unique among U.S. presidents in his connections to the business world. Certainly, there have been presidents before him who were businessmen: both George H.W. Bush and his son, George W., were in the oil business. Herbert Hoover was in mining and Warren G. Harding was in the newspaper business.
The difference is that every president before Trump had held one or more government positions before taking the office or had served as a general in the military.
This means that Trump’s business record and the performance of his companies were the public’s only basis for measuring his professional performance before he became president.
We know considerably more now, although there is still much to know. Here’s what we know, and don’t know, about Trump’s business dealings, his successes and failures, and his financial health as he left the presidency.
Foreign Government Officials Have Paid Visits To Trump Properties
As of this week, President Trump has amassed more than 3,500 conflicts of interest through his businesses, a number that according to tracking by CREW now includes visits from at least 150 individual foreign government officials to properties he still owns and profits from. The presidents decision before taking office to continue to own and profit from the Trump Organization while serving in the government set the stage for presidential corruption without precedent, which CREW has tracked since he took office.
CREWs tracking draws from news, social media, and other sources. Earlier this month, the New York Timesreported that the Romanian defense minister and top Romanian general appeared as guests of honor at a reception at the Trump hotel in Washington late in 2017. Because of the Trump Organization and Trump administrations lack of transparency regarding foreign government officials patronizing the presidents business, it is impossible to pinpoint exactly when the 150th visit occurred, but this new information makes clear that our tally is now at least up to that figure.
Why wouldnt I stay at hotel blocks from the White House, so I can tell the new president, I love your new hotel! Isnt it rude to come to his city and say, I am staying at your competitor?
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What We Don’t Know
There are some caveats to keep in mind when assessing the data in the Trump Organization’s financial disclosure forms.
First, the data is unaudited, self-reported data, meaning that readers have to take the company’s word that it’s accurate.
Second, many of the numbers listed as “income” from certain assets seem, instead, to be the revenue from those businesses. This was confirmed when data from Trump’s tax returns were released by The New York Times showing that many of the businesses have been losing money, including some of the largest revenue producers, such as Trump National Doral golf resort.
That being the case, the financial numbers don’t show the amount of money that the former president actually took home as income. For example, in Trump’s 2017 disclosure, he listed his income for the Trump National Doral golf resort as $75 million, which matches the revenue number reported to Miami-Dade County. Net operating income for the resort for that year was dramatically smaller at $4.3 million.
Getting a clear picture of the former president’s businesses is further complicated by the fact that income and asset values are listed in very wide ranges. For example, Mar-a-Lago Club is listed as having a value of “over $50,000,000.” The Trump National Golf Club in Charlotte is listed as worth between $5 million and $25 million.
Gathering Spot For Gop
The Trump International Hotel in DC celebrated its grand opening in October, 2016, right before the election, and quickly became the favorite gathering spot for companies, politicians and lobbyists eager to build relations with the new White House. The property took in $40.5 million in revenue in 2019, the latest period available, according to disclosures filed to the Office of Government Ethics.
According to election filings, campaign committees tied to the president or the GOP spent about $3 million at the hotel since Trump became president. With business strong, the Trump Organization started shopping around the hotel to potential buyers last October.
After the widespread lockdowns and travel restrictions in March, the sales efforts were halted. Even longtime longtime pillars of the Washington hotel business, like the St. Regis and The Hay-Adams, continue to struggle to fill rooms and amid the drop in travel and tourism.
But even when the economy recovers, hotel investors and owners say the Trump hotel is burdened by two conditions that make any sale unlikely. The Trump Organization doesn’t own the property, known as the Old Post Office Pavilion, but leases it from the General Services Administration.
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How Many Hotels Does Trump Own
Trump Hotels “is a brand of five-star luxury hotels and resortswith a mission of providing extraordinary customer experiencesand luxury accommodations,” according to the organization’s website.
“Our exceptionally designed hotels in iconic locations put guests at the heart of each destination.”
Trump owns luxury hotels in at least 11 cities around the world.
In the US he has hotels in Miami, New York City, Chicago, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Charlottesville and Washington, DC.
He has two luxury hotels in Scotland , one in Doonbeg, Ireland and one in Vancouver.
The Trump Organization also owns dozens of residential properties and golf courses.
“Trump Golf was founded in 1999 with the mission to create the worlds best luxury golf experience that celebrates the purity of the game, family values and tradition,” the organization says.
Some properties that have the Trump name are not necessarily owned by the organization.
Trump “frequently licenses his name to products – and buildings – he has not developed and does not own, such as the hotel and condominium Trump Soho in Manhattan and the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Dubai,” according to The Real Deal.
He has licensed his name at least 50 times, according to The Washington Post.
Mixing Business And Politics
Trump’s potential conflicts of interest were a prominent topic throughout his tenure from 2017 through 2020. As president, the enormous power he had at his command made it more important than ever to understand his long list of businesses and how they could intersect with his public role as president.
These conflicts of interest did not pose a legal problem for Trump. The president and vice president are explicitly exempt from ethics regulations concerning conflicts of interest.
There were other issues, though, such as the emoluments clause, which was written into the U.S. Constitution by the nation’s founders. The clause prohibits the president from accepting things of value from foreign governments.
Many critics say the emoluments clause applies to Trump in several respects. But none of the many legal cases alleging violations by the former president have been concluded, nor does it look like they will be in the near future.
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The Real Sources Of Wealth
The former president’s businesses generally fall into five categories: hotels, golf courses , condos, residential and commercial real-estate rentals, and payments for the licensing of Trump’s name.
The New York Times articles unleashed a major new source of information, besides confirming that Donald Trump’s disclosed income numbers were actually revenue figures.
The numbers also show that companies owned by Trump were incredibly unprofitable for the period between 2000 and 2018. His real sources of income were a television show and some licensing deals.
Although certain enterprises such as Trump Tower have been profitable, Trump businesses overall lost $174.5 million from 2000â2018. During the same period of time, his net income from licensing and endorsement deals was $230 million, his net income from The Apprentice television show was $197.3 million, and his income from other investments in companies run by other people was $178.7 million.
Trump Tower Mumbai Will Have A Private
Trump Tower Mumbai signals The Trump Organization’s continued expansion in India.
In an interview with The New York Times, Trump’s son and the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, Donald Trump Jr., said he had “spent a tremendous time cultivating relationships” in the country. “We are now seeing the response of that effort,” he said.
The 78-story tower will bear the president’s signature gold hue when it’s completed in 2019. It will also offer a private-jet service for residents.
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Trump Ruffin Tower Llc
- 2019 Revenue: $27,677,448, divided between $4,414,500 in condo sales and $23,262,948 in hotel revenue
- 2018 Revenue: $28,558,298, divided between $6,002,244 in condo sales and $22,556,054 in hotel revenue
- 2019 Asset Value: Over $50,000,000
- Business Type: Hotel and Condominium Complex
Trump Ruffin Tower LLC manages the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Las Vegas. Constructed in 2008, the tower is a combination hotel and condominium development.
It struggled as the Great Recession hit when it opened more than a decade ago, devastating the real estate market. Plans for a second tower were scrapped.
Trump Ocean Resort: Baja Mexico
This was a failed luxury condominium and hotel resort in Mexico. It was a joint venture between the Trump organization and Irongate, a real estate development company. The project was to have 25 stories with a 526 condominium hotel. Investors were made to believe Trump was supervising the project but it later turned out that Trump had only licensed his name for the development.
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Trump Admits To Overpaying For The Property
Hotel owners say the $3 million-a-year lease â far above competing bids when Trump won the rights in 2011 â makes it difficult for any future owner to make a profit. Trump admitted to overpaying for the property, telling The Washington Post in 2012: “I mean, we are paying too much for the Old Post Office. But we will make that so amazing that at some point in the future it’ll be very nice.”
Hotel executives and advisors say that given the lease terms, any bid to purchase the hotel today would have to be around $150 million to $175 million â less than the Trump Org.’s $200 million investment. That leaves the Trump Organization with the options to sell the property at a loss, default on the Deutsche Bank loan and turn over the keys, or try to keep the property and eventually turn a profit.
Bidders say the Trump Organization also required any buyer to keep the Trump name on the hotel, which helps the Trump brand but could be problematic for any buyer.
For now, the Trump Organization continues to make its lease payments. A GSA spokesperson said that “the tenant has remained in full compliance with the lease.”
Trump Towers In Pune India Was Investigated By The State Government
Two years after the launch of Trump Towers Pune, in India, the complex fell under investigation by the state government and local police, who sought to determine whether developers had permission to build on the land.
A sales manager for the building’s developer told BuzzFeed that the project received more interest after Trump won the presidential election.
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Born With A Golden Spoon
The gilt-and-velvet hotel attempted to establish itself as a high-end tastemaker. Its crown-jewel restaurant, David Burkes BLT Prime, traded in pricey salt-aged steaks and miniature, Game of Thrones-ian racks of hanging bacon . Its swanky Benjamin Bar served $140 spoons of wine. Also: a $169 cocktailthe most expensive in DC at the time, though the Hungarian wine-based cobbler didnt actually contain any liquor . And lets not forget Cheese Night, a buffet extravaganza that not even the Coronavirus could kill.
That said, not every foray into luxe living was a success. Lets not forget the time a guest sued the hotel after a flying shard of glass from a Champagne sabering ceremony resulted in a trip to the hospital .
Trump Towers: Istanbul Turkey
The building in Istanbul, Turkey has two towers, one is residential while the other is an office. It is the first Trump tower to be built in Europe. The building has 200 residences, a shopping mall, multiplex cinema, and 80 shops. The complex is co-owned by Donald Trump and the Turkish billionaire and property developer, Aydin Dogan
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One Decade Of Business Dealings
A useful snapshot is Trump’s record during the 10 years before he won the presidency. From 2006â2016, The New York Times went through every business deal that the Trump Organization announced or that was reported.
The 60 deals reflected a highly uneven track record of business success: “One-third of them never got off the ground or soon petered out. Another third delivered a measure of what was promisedâbuildings were built, courses taught, a product introducedâbut they also encountered substantial problems, like lawsuits, government investigations, partnership woes, or market downturns…The remaining third, while sometimes encountering strife, generally met expectations,” according to The New York Times.
Any deeper examination of the former president’s business record would be incomplete without looking at his series of high-profile bankruptcies and other failures. Below is a list of some of the highlights, although it is by no means comprehensive.
Trump Also Lent His Name To A Set Of Towers In Sunny Isles Florida
The Trump Towers in Sunny Isles, Florida, are the product of another licensing deal. In 2013, the Trump Organization estimated that it had $74 million worth of licensing deals in real estate.
On its website, the organization highlights the “opulence, comfort, and convenience” of the Sunny Isles location. The towers’ amenities include a heated swimming pool, a spa, and beachfront cabanas.
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Many More Trump Tower Projects Have Been Canceled
Like the tower in Moscow, a number of Trump projects have never come to fruition. Over the course of his real-estate career, Trump has planned to build towers in Philadelphia, Rio de Janeiro, and Tampa, Florida.
Though some of these projects have been mired in conflict, none compare to the Trump Tower Moscow scandal.
On January 20, Giuliani quoted Trump as saying that the tower’s negotiations were “going on from the day I announced to the day I won.” A day later, he said were “hypothetical.”
Text messages acquired by BuzzFeed show a conversation between Cohen and his associate Felix Sater that suggested the project had the green light by May 2016 almost a year after Trump declared his candidacy for president.
“Let’s make this happen and build a Trump Moscow,” Sater wrote in an email to Cohen. “And possibly fix relations between the countries by showing everyone that commerce business are much better and more practical than politics.”
