How Much Money Did Donald Trump's DC Hotel Really Lose While He Was President?
Former President Donald Trump made much of his financial acumen both while campaigning and while serving as president. In fact, Trump's claims about his finances became a key part of his pitch as to why Americans should vote for him.
Back in 2015, The Guardian reported that Trump said, "I have total net worth of $8.73bn. I'm not doing that to brag. I'm doing that to show that's the kind of thinking our country needs." Trump had a similar message for the Des Moines Register at the time. "I'm the most successful person ever to run for the presidency, by far," Trump claimed. "Nobody's ever been more successful than me. I'm the most successful person ever to run. Ross Perot isn't successful like me. [Mitt] Romney — I have a Gucci store that's worth more than Romney."
While Trump's financial claims became something of a mantra during his time in the White House, it seems his boasts of success were not all that they seemed, including Trump's famous international hotel in Washington, D.C.
Donald Trump's Washington, D.C. hotel lost more $70 million
A major part of Donald Trump's portfolio are his hotels, and since he was in Washington, D.C., both Trump himself and the media paid a great deal of attention to the Trump International Hotel. The House Oversight Committee, a group of congressional investigators, released several documents pertaining to this hotel, all the more interesting considering that Trump said the hotel made $150 million while he was in office, according to NPR.
However, this wasn't the case. The documents reveal that Trump actually lost more than $70 million from the hotel. Trump received loans from the holding company DJT Holdings LLC, to the tune of $24 million, per CNN. Adding to the gravity of the situation, Trump received more than $3 million in loans from foreign governments — a situation that sparks concern over conflicts of interest. On top of this, NPR adds that Trump was given "preferential treatment from Deutsche Bank" because he was able to defer paying off the principal on the $170 million loan they provided him. A major part of the problem, according to the report, is that Trump didn't air this information while he was president.
However, the Trump Organization responded to the House Oversight Committee's findings by saying that they are "intentionally misleading, irresponsible and unequivocally false."