Trump Organization In Talks To Reclaim Prized DC Hotel

President-elect Donald Trump’s real-estate company is in talks to reclaim its former Washington DC hotel, under which they would purchase the lease currently controlled by merchant bank BDT & MSD Partners.

According to the WSJ, Eric Trump has been negotiating the purchase of the lease, though the talks are still in early stages and may not lead to a sale, said people familiar with the matter.

The hotel is currently a Hilton-owned Waldorf Astoria that operates out of the Old Post Office building - which is owned by the federal government, but was leased to the Trumps in 2016 when they opened the hotel. The family sold the lease rights in 2022 for $375 million to CGI Merchant Group, which invested additional money in the property. After they defaulted on debt related to the purchase in 2023, lender BDT & MSD Partners foreclosed on it and took control. Since then, they’ve been operating the property, which has some of the highest revenue per available room of any hotel in the city.

According to the report, the Trumps are looking for a hotel in the capital as Trump prepares his return to the Oval Office. Reacquiring the rights could cost over $300 million, according to people familiar with the hotel’s operations and revenue.

If successful, the Trumps might be able to negotiate a new deal and resume operation of the property.

Democrats seized and pounced during Trump’s first term, alleging that his financial stake in the hotel violated the ‘Foreign Emoluments Clause,’ which prohibits a president from receiving things of value from foreign or state governments. Critics claimed that foreign nationals spent lavishly on Trump hotel suites, the restaurant, and on room service. The Trump Organization hit back, saying it doesn’t market the hotel to foreign dignitaries, and that it wrote a check to the US Treasury Department for monies received from foreign government guests.

Maryland and DC attorneys general filed lawsuits claiming violations of the emoluments clause, however they were dismissed by the Supreme Court in 2021, shortly after President Biden took office.

So of course – if the Trump Organization is able to buy back the rights to the hotel, those same conflict-of-interest issues are likely to resurface.

The Trump Organization paused or pulled back from many of its business ventures during his presidency, though it has revived its global expansion in recent years. The company is building a second golf course in Scotland and has branding deals with residential projects in India and resort developments in Indonesia.

Trump agreed to manage and brand a golf and resort project in Oman, teaming up with Dar Al Arkan, a Saudi real-estate firm. The firm also has resorts, condominiums and other ventures in more than 10 countries. -WSJ

The Trump Organization interest in the DC hotel goes back to 2012, when they won a heated bidding contest for a long-term lease, with extensions running close to 100 years. The family beat out other real-estate investors and hotel companies, including Hilton and Marriott, for the right to run the property.

During the 1st Trump presidency, the hotel became ‘something of a Republican clubhouse,’ according to the report, which notes that fans, lobbyists, lawmakers and others flocked to the hotel to hang out.

The hotel boasts some of the largest guest rooms in the capital, some of which have 18-foot high ceilings. A Saturday stay at a suite starts at $1,395 per night according to the Hilton website.