Former President Trump’s Washington hotel lost over $70 million while he was in the White House, though it raked in nearly $4 million from foreign governments, according to documents released Thursday by the House Oversight and Reform Committee.
The hotel was struggling, so much so that Mr. Trump’s holding company had to reallocate at least $24 million to help the struggling hotel, the documents show.
But in his federally mandated financial disclosures, Mr. Trump painted a different picture. He reported that his Washington hotel earned over $150 million in revenue while he was in office.
The committee obtained the material from the General Services Administration (GSA), which has leased the old federal Post Office building to Mr. Trump for nearly a decade, so his company could transform it into a luxury hotel.
The papers show that Mr. Trump’s company told the GSA in 2017 that it would have to begin repaying the principal of its Deutsche Bank loan the following year. But in 2018, the company’s filing said it wouldn’t have to begin making payments on the principal until 2024.
In a press release, Representatives Gerald Connolly and Carolyn Maloney, the committee’s chair, allege the change is an indication Mr. Trump received “undisclosed preferential treatment” from the Germany-based investment bank.
Deutsche Bank spokesperson Dan Hunter objected to that characterization, but said he couldn’t discuss the specifics of a client’s loan agreement.
“The Committee’s letter makes several inaccurate statements regarding Deutsche Bank and its loan agreement,” he said.
Maloney and Connolly wrote to GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan Friday, outlining their findings and asserting that they merit further investigation.
“The documents provided by GSA 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,” Maloney and Connolly said in the letter.
Mr. Trump routinely claims that investigations into his business dealings are politically motivated. .
CBS News has contacted the GSA and a spokesperson for Mr. Trump for comment.
The Trump International Hotel is currently up for sale, according to The Washington Post.
