Trump’s company is suing New York City for ‘politically motivated’ decision to cancel golf course contract

New York City has already ended contracts with Trump Organisation to run skating rinks and a carousel in Central Park

File image: Patrons play the links as a giant branding sign is displayed with flagstones at Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point in the Bronx borough of New York on Tuesday, 4 May, 2021 (AP)

Former US President Donald Trump’s company is suing New York City for what it describes as a “politically motivated” decision to cancel its contract to run a golf course in Bronx.

In its lawsuit filed in the state court, the company said the decision is politically motivated and should be reversed. The lawsuit said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had a “pre-existing, politically-based predisposition to terminate Trump-related contracts, and the City used the events of 6 January, 2021 as a pretext to do so."

It said that nothing in the contract gives New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio the right to terminate the contract deal after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in January.

Mr Trump’s company demanded that either it be allowed to continue to run the course or the city must pay millions of dollars to buy them out.

In a statement, the Trump Organisation said that Mayor de Blasio’s actions are “purely politically motivated, have no legal merit, and are yet another example of the mayor’s efforts to advance his own partisan agenda and interfere with free enterprise.”

When de Blasio announced the decision to cancel the golf course contract in January, he pointed to Donald Trump’s “criminal action” in inciting Capitol rioters, arguing that he could fire him “for cause” and not pay him a dime.

Bill Neidhardt, press secretary for New York City mayor, tweeted: “Donald Trump directly incited a deadly insurrection at the US Capitol. You do that, and you lose the privilege of doing business with the City of New York. It’s as simple as that.”

After the attack on the Capitol, the city also ended contracts with the Trump Organisation to run two skating rinks and a carousel in Central Park.

Post 6 January Capitol riots, there have been several instances of insurers, banks and brokers refusing to do any future business with Donald Trump’s company.

The New York city has also cited a decision by the PGA (Professional Golfers’ Association) of America to cancel a tournament at one of Trump’s golf courses in New Jersey. It said that Donald Trump could no longer argue he can attract prestigious tournaments to the Bronx course as is required in the contract.

But the Trump Organisation emphasises that the contract doesn’t require it to attract tournaments and they need to only maintain the golf course as a “first-class, tournament quality.” The Trump organisation attached letters from course designers, golf organisations and famous golfers saying the course met that standard.

Additional reporting by agencies