Donald Trump reaches $375 million deal to sell his marquee Washington hotel: Report

Donald Trump’s family business has reportedly reached an agreement to sell its marquee Washington hotel for at least $375 million. According to New York Times, currently, the deal is what is known as a purchase and sale agreement, meaning a final sale of the Trump International Hotel in Washington has still not taken place and may not happen until next year. The buyer of the lease is CGI Merchant Group, which is a minority-owned real estate investment firm in Miami. 

It is to mention that the sale of the lease of the hotel comes after years of financial losses at the property, which opened in 2016, just before Trump was elected as the President of the United States. Trump’s Washington hotel had promoted ethical scrutiny and struggled to make money even though it drew steady crowds of lobbyists, lawmakers and Trump loyalists. Trump’s family business had been trying to sell the property since 2019 but paused last year when the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered the hospitality industry. 

Now, with the significant price of the planned sale, the Trump family is expected to turn a profit on the overall investment, the NYT reported. The CGI Merchant Group, on the other hand, is partnering with Hilton Worldwide Holdings to brand it a Waldorf Astoria and reportedly exploring a deal to rename the ornate building located a short walk from the White House. The deal is, however, subject to approval by the General Services Administration (GSA), which will conduct a 60-day review, because the federal government owns the property. 

Trump provided false financial state of the hotel 

Meanwhile, last month, the US House Committee on Oversight and Reform said that the newly obtained government documents had raised “troubling” questions about Trump International Hotel in Washington. According to CNN, the committee revealed that the former US President had reported that the hotel had earned him more than $150 million during his time in office but it actually lost more than $70 million. The committee also found that the hotel received more than $3.6 million in payments from foreign governments, raising a potential conflict of interest. 

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