The Trump International Hotel, Washington D.C.
Janhvi Bhojwani | CNBC
The Trump Organization reportedly is exploring selling its lease rights for its Washington, D.C., hotel, in part due to ethics concerns related to President Donald Trump profiting from business there, which includes visits by officials of foreign governments.
The company is aiming to obtain more than $500 million for the lease rights to the Trump International Hotel, according to The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The 121-year-old building is located in the Old Post Office Building, located several blocks away from the White House.
The building is owned by the federal government, and is leased to the Trump Organization by the General Services Administration.
The hotel was opened shortly before Trump’s election as president in 2016.
“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,” Trump’s son Eric Trump said in a statement to The Journal.
“People are objecting to us making so much money on the hotel, and therefore we may be willing to sell,” said Eric Trump, who runs the Trump Organization with his older brother Donald Trump Jr.
News about a potential sale of the lease comes six days after President Trump abruptly reversed his plan to host next June’s Group of 7 summit at his Miami golf resort.
That reversal came after days of criticism from Democrats that Trump would be improperly profiting from the G-7 gathering of leaders of economically elite nations if it was held at the Trump National Doral.
Trump’s Washington hotel is a well-known gathering place for associates and supporters of the president, as well as lobbyists and officials from foreign governments.
President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani has coffee with Ukrainian-American businessman Lev Parnas at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, September 20, 2019.
Aram Roston | Reuters
The internal watchdog of the General Services Administration last January said that the GSA had improperly “ignored” the emoluments clause when it allowed the Trump Organization to manage the hotel after Trump was elected president.
The GSA’s inspector general, in a written report, said Trump’s interest in the hotel raised a possible conflict with the emoluments clause that “might cause a breach of lease.”
The Trump Organization company did not immediately return a request for comment from CNBC when asked about the possible sale of the leasing rights.
When CNBC phoned the hotel, an employee there said, “I would not be able to speak with you about that.”
A call to JLL, the commercial real estate firm reportedly handling the sale, was not answered.
– Additional reporting by CNBC’s Tucker Higgins
