Trump in advanced talks to sell D.C. hotel
By Jonathan Swan, Dan Primack
Photo: Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images
Former President Trump is in advanced talks to sell rights to his Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., sources tell Axios.
Why it matters: The removal of Trump’s big, golden name from Pennsylvania Avenue would be a symbolic bombshell savored by opponents.
By Jonathan Swan, Dan Primack
Photo: Robert Nickelsberg/Getty Images
Former President Trump is in advanced talks to sell rights to his Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., sources tell Axios.
Why it matters: The removal of Trump’s big, golden name from Pennsylvania Avenue would be a symbolic bombshell savored by opponents.
- The historic building became a prop and symbol for both sides in the political wars.
- The hotel was a central setting during his chaotic presidency, with Trump preening at his personal table, and supporters and supplicants thronging the lobby bar and restaurants to curry favor.
- Details of the deal’s terms aren't yet known but Trump’s representatives have been in talks with major hotel chains and investors.
- Trump, who initially tried to sell the leased federal property in the fall of 2019, declined Axios' request for comment.
- Sources said the former president is likely to get less than the $500 million he was reportedly seeking in 2019.
- Three years before Trump was elected, the General Services Administration (GSA), the federal landlord, announced a 60-year lease agreement with the Trump Organization.
- Under the 2013 agreement, $200 million of private money was to be spent to restore the building and convert it into a luxury development.
- The Trump Organization has been paying $250,000 a month in base rent, GSA said in 2017. The rent was to rise with inflation.
- Many ethics and contract experts called upon GSA to end the 60-year lease after Trump was elected and became, in effect, both tenant and landlord, NPR noted, but GSA upheld the deal.
- When Trump left office, The Washington Post reported that the D.C. hotel had a $170 million loan outstanding, and had seen revenue drop more than 60 percent compared to the previous year.
- In early June, the Post reported that Trump had hired the brokerage firm Newmark Group to market the lease.
- The original commercial real estate brokerage firm, Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., dropped out following the Capitol riot, Bloomberg reported.