According to a report from Axios, Donald Trump and his family are close to selling off the lease to the controversial Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C. that was once a hot spot for fans of the president as well as lobbyists looking for contacts with the previous administration.
The hotel, housed in the historic Old Post Office building, fell under the Trump name three years before he served his only term as president after the General Services Administration (GSA), the federal landlord, agreed to a sixty-year lease with the Trump Organization.
Prior to Trump’s November defeat to Joe Biden, the family put the rights to the lease on the market but found no takers, with matters made worse by the Covid pandemic that crushed, not only travel, but also the economy.
Axios is reporting a deal is in the offing — without revealing who the purchaser may be — but added, “Sources said the former president is likely to get less than the $500 million he was reportedly seeking in 2019.”
Axios’s Jonathan Swan and Dan Primack report, “Trump would sell the leasing rights to a real estate developer, who in turn would negotiate with hotel companies that would manage the property and rebrand it,” adding, “Trump’s hotels and golf resorts have been hit hard by the COVID shutdowns that have walloped the hospitality industry — worsened for the former president by his lost heat after his 2020 defeat.”
The report notes, “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.”
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Screenshot image: Trump family cuts ribbon at opening of D.C. hotel