Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Trump hotel lost $70M during presidency, got help from bank

Former President Donald Trump’s company lost more than $70 million operating his Washington D

Via AP news wire
Friday 08 October 2021 16:25 BST
Trump Business Washington Hotel
Trump Business Washington Hotel (Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Former President Donald Trump s company lost more than $70 million operating his Washington, D.C., hotel while in office, forcing him at one point to get a reprieve from a major bank on payments on a loan, according to documents released Friday by a House committee investigating his business.

In addition to the payment delay, the Trump Organization also had to inject $27 million from other parts of its business to help the hotel, according to documents released by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. The committee said financial statements it obtained show the losses came despite an estimated $3.7 million in payments from foreign governments, business that government ethics experts say Trump should have refused because it posed conflicts of interest with his role as president.

The Trump Organization did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The documents from the committee, the first public disclosure of audited financial statements from the hotel, show steep losses despite a brisk business while he was in office from lobbyists and businesses and Republican groups.

The loan delay by Deutsche Bank to the president was an “undisclosed preferential treatment” that should have been reported by the president because the bank has substantial business in the U.S., the committee said in a letter to the General Services Administration the federal agency overseeing the hotel. The hotel is leased by the federal government to the Trump Organization.

“The documents ... raise new and troubling questions about former President Trump’s lease with GSA and the agency’s ability to manage the former president’s conflicts of interest during his term in office when he was effectively on both sides of the contract, as landlord and tenant,” the committee, overseen by Democrat Carolyn Maloney of New York wrote in a news release.

Trump's company has been trying to sell the 263-room hotel since the fall of 2019 but has struggled to find buyers.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in