The Trump Organization has permanently banned a Forbes reporter after a bizarre situation involving a pest control gala.
"I went to the Trump International Hotel in Washington Thursday evening to do some investigating," Zach Everson reported. "The rates that night started at $2,400, well above the usual $400 to $700, and I wanted to find out why. Upon entering, I saw a big sign that read 'Arrow Exterminators.' I confirmed that the exterminators were customers rather than contractors, and, with that assignment checked, settled in at the bar to see if any swamp people of note were still showing up with Trump out of power."
Everson says he stayed for a $17 prosecco, took some photos, and then went to the restroom. Afterwards, the hotel's director of security, Ernest Wojciech, told Everson to leave.
"While escorting me out, Wojciech explained that the ejection was for taking photos without permission. Once outside, he told me the ban was permanent, then declined to elaborate," Everson reported. "Higher-ups in the Trump Organization also didn't feel like explaining. When Forbes reached out to ask whether one of its reporters had, in fact, been banned from the hotel for life, a spokesperson did not respond."
Everson came to prominence during the Trump administration for his dogged reporting on the hotel, which appeared on Twitter and then his newsletter named after the hotel's address, 1100 Pennsylvania.
Here is the thread on the Trump Organization ban that Everson posted to Twitter:
Last night I was banned for life from the Trump Hotel DC.https://bit.ly/3mFm0C7— Zach Everson (@Zach Everson) 1630080053
While the ejection itself wasn't much of a surprise, the timing was.\n\nI hadn't been to the Trump Hotel DC since March 2020. (Posts on social media showed it wasn't strict about enforcing Covid protocols). 3/https://bit.ly/3mFm0C7— Zach Everson (@Zach Everson) 1630080639
My Trump Hotel DC visit started off weird\u2014\n\nI was carded.\n\n(Even masked, nothing about me says "under 40.")\n\nAnd while it'd been a while, the bartender knew my line of work. Heck, I once landed him a cameo on Inside Edition.\n\n5/\n\nhttps://bit.ly/3mFm0C7\u00a0pic.twitter.com/Tk4RoADy7d— Zach Everson (@Zach Everson) 1630081479
Anyway, I quickly figured out the likely reason for the Trump Hotel DC's price spike.\n\nNo, it was not welcoming part of the Israeli delegation.\n\nIt was hosting a corporate event for an bug exterminator.\n\n7/\n\nhttps://bit.ly/2WorK8Y\u00a0pic.twitter.com/Df0k7VE9HT— Zach Everson (@Zach Everson) 1630082497
The restrooms are at the other end of the lobby from the bar, so I'd always go there before leaving\u2014gave me an excuse to walk around and look for notables. \n\nYou can learn a lot from name tags and lapel pins.\n\n9/https://bit.ly/2WorK8Y— Zach Everson (@Zach Everson) 1630083051
Text sent, I leave the restroom and head towards the Trump Hotel DCs ballroom to see if the pest exterminators booked that space too.\n\nThe hotel's security chief beckons though, and tells me I'm going the wrong way (which I was).\n\n11/https://bit.ly/2WorK8Y— Zach Everson (@Zach Everson) 1630083726
And, while my reporting often relies on photos of Trump Hotel DC guests, I can only recall surreptitiously taking photos of guests twice: Louie Gohmert and Romania's prime minister.\n\nFigured snapping pics of customers was a sure way to get tossed.\n\n13/\n\nhttps://bit.ly/2WwDUML\u00a0pic.twitter.com/OhS7mvtZ1a— Zach Everson (@Zach Everson) 1630084432
After we exit the hotel, the security chief informs me that I'm not allow to return.\n\nStanding beside him at this point\u2014the hotel's head of marketing.\n\n15/https://bit.ly/3DpeQI7— Zach Everson (@Zach Everson) 1630084829
The head of hotel security declined to explain why my ban was for life and reps from the Trump Org have not replied to requests for comment.\n\nThe Trump Org's trying to sell its lease though, so seems likely I'll get back inside 1100 Penn again.\n\n17/https://bit.ly/2Y4hDGL— Zach Everson (@Zach Everson) 1630085668
