‘Grifters central’: Trump campaign consultant says his DC hotel ‘was America’s lobby of corruption’

The end of Trump Hotel DC represents the end of a bizarrely unique period in American presidential history.

"Even though it opened only a few weeks before Mr. Trump’s election in 2016, the 263-room hotel quickly achieved a status in Washington that historians agree was unlike that of any other venue owned by an American president," Eric Lipton reported for The New York Times. "The hotel generated millions of dollars in direct payments to Mr. Trump’s family, starting from even before he was sworn in, as his own inaugural committee paid the venue more than $1 million."

The lease of the government-owned building was sold to CGI Merchant Group of Miami, which announced it will rebrand the hotel as Waldorf Astoria. The newspaper estimates the Trump family will see a $100 million profit.

"Even before Mr. Trump was sworn in, the hotel became a magnet for foreign officials, including from Saudi Arabia, whose government rented out a block of rooms, spending $190,000 on its room tab and another $78,000 for meals and beverages, lobbying disclosures show," The Times reported. "Soon enough, foreign business and government groups from Bahrain, Kuwait, Turkey and Azerbaijan, among others, followed by hosting events at the hotel, with representatives from at least 33 nations sighted there by Zach Everson, a journalist who created an online newsletter tracking social media posts from the hotel during Mr. Trump’s presidency."

Trump 2016 campaign consultant Healy Baumgardner said the hotel "Was America's lobby of corruption."

"It was grifters central," he explained.

Read the full report.

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