Workers removed Donald Trump's name from his hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC on Wednesday, following the completion of the $375m sale of the lease to investors from Florida. House Democrats estimate the former president, under legal and financial pressure, will gain $100m from the sale once a loan for renovations is paid off.
One ethics group called the hotel “a sinkhole of corruption”. During Trump’s presidency, the hotel became a magnet for aides, supporters and foreign businesses seeking favour. Critics were particularly concerned because Trump did not formally divest from the Trump Organization. The presidential historian Michael Beschloss predicted “political ghosts will linger”.
The hotel lost more than $70m during Trump’s four years in office, including losses before the pandemic. Many hotel brokers did not expect the 263-room hotel to fetch such a high price. The lease price, equivalent to more than $1.4m per room, has drawn scrutiny from Democrats in Congress; the average sales price for DC hotels in 2020 was $354,000 per room.
CGI Merchant Group, the buyer, plans to turn the hotel into a branch of the Waldorf Astoria chain. Earlier this month, the House oversight committee requested documents from CGI listing all investors, reportedly including former New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez. The sale marks the end of a controversial chapter in Trump’s rise, opening in the Old Post Office building in 2016.
Eric Trump said the company transformed a dilapidated building into an iconic hotel. The hotel had long attracted criticism for conflicts of interest. Recently, the Trump Organization and his 2017 inaugural committee agreed to pay $750,000 to settle a DC lawsuit claiming excessive payments. The advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said “good riddance” but noted outstanding questions about the premium sale price and security risks.
