Trump Organization closes sale of Washington hotel
2022.05.12 18:26
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FILE PHOTO: The Trump International Hotel is seen in Washington, U.S. September 28, 2020. REUTERS/Erin Scott
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(Reuters) – The Trump Organization said on Wednesday that it completed the $375 million sale of the lease on the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. to an investment firm that plans to rebrand the property as the Waldorf Astoria.
The business owned by the family of former President Donald Trump bought the rights in 2013 to the hotel, housed inside in the historic Old Post Office Building blocks away from the White House, and renovated it. The building itself is still owned by the federal government.
In March, the U.S. General Services Administration, which acts as the federal government’s landlord, approved the sale of the rights by the Trump Organization to Miami-based CGI Merchant Group.
Trump is projected to gain $100 million from the transaction.
The Trump International Hotel served as a gathering point for Trump’s supporters and some foreign government officials during his time in the White House.
During his presidency, the hotel became the focus of conflict of interest allegations against Trump and his family. Critics were concerned that outside entities tried to curry favor with Trump by booking stays and spending money at the hotel.
In 2016 he was elected president and later handed over day-to-day operations of the Trump Organization to two of his sons, though he did not formally divest himself from the business during his term, which ended in early 2021.
The Trump Organization and Trump’s 2017 U.S. presidential inaugural committee recently agreed to pay $750,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by the District of Columbia’s attorney general claiming the family-owned hotel received excessive payments from the committee.
