Just Politics

[blackcat]

wonder if they can get their price? And wouldn't selling it for a profit while Trumpty is still POTUS still be an emoluments violation?


By Craig Karmin
Updated Oct. 25, 2019 12:35 pm ET

The Trump Organization is exploring a sale of the rights to the company’s opulent Washington, D.C., hotel, a move it says is motivated partly by criticism that the Trumps are flouting ethics laws by profiting from the property.

President Trump’s family business has hired the real-estate firm JLL to market the Trump International Hotel, Eric Trump, an executive vice president at the Trump Organization, told The Wall Street Journal.

A number of groups have over time expressed interest in buying the hotel, Eric Trump said in a statement. “Since we opened our doors, we have received tremendous interest in this hotel and as real-estate developers, we are always willing to explore our options,” he said.

He added that scrutiny of the hotel’s profits was another reason the family is considering a sale: “People are objecting to us making so much money on the hotel, and therefore we may be willing to sell.”

The 121-year-old building is the former Old Post Office and is near the National Mall. It is owned by the federal government and is leased to the Trump Organization by the General Services Administration.

The company is hoping to fetch more than $500 million for the lease rights, or a price of about $2 million a room key, say people familiar with the matter. That would make the sale one of the highest-priced hotel deals ever by this popular industry valuation metric. With extensions, the lease runs close to 100 years, and a new owner could control the property well into the next century.

Mr. Trump didn’t sell his businesses after being elected president, instead placing his holdings in a trust to be run by his sons. That has sparked criticism from Democrats and watchdog groups that owning properties at which foreign, federal, state and local officials could spend money violates a constitutional ban on the president’s receiving “emoluments”—things of value—beyond normal compensation.

Mr. Trump hasn’t been shy about visiting and talking up the property— which opened as a Trump-branded hotel in 2016—during his campaign and presidency. He has dined at and visited the property 23 times as president, and other executive-branch officials have made at least 390 trips there, according to the Citizens for Responsive Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit group that tracks ethics issues.

The move to sell comes shortly after Mr. Trump dropped plans to host a meeting of world leaders next year at his Trump National Doral property near Miami, after facing intense criticism from Democrats that hosting such an event would amount to self-dealing.

The Trump administration has also faced scrutiny for the Washington hotel. In January, the GSA’s inspector general issued a report that said it finds the agency ignored guidelines spelled out in the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause by allowing Mr. Trump to keep the lease on the hotel.

A federal appeals court in New York last month revived a lawsuit alleging that Mr. Trump is unconstitutionally profiting from his presidency. The Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that plaintiffs, including hotels and restaurants that compete with Mr. Trump’s businesses, have legal standing to bring their claims.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-organization-exploring-sale-of-marquee-washington-hotel-11572019874?mod=breakingnews