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Iraqi Sheikh Who Advocates Hard-Line U.S. Approach to Iran Spent 26 Nights at Trump D.C. Hotel: WaPo

The nearly month-long visit is estimated to have cost tens of thousands of dollars.

An Iraqi sheikh who urged top U.S. national security officials to forge closer ties with those seeking to overthrow the Iranian government later stayed at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., for 26 nights, The Washington Post reports. Sheikh Nahro al-Kasnazan wrote letters to national security adviser John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sharing his desire “to achieve our mutual interest to weaken the Iranian Mullahs regime and end its hegemony.” Four months later, he began a nearly month-long stay in a suite at the D.C. hotel that the president still owns. The visit is estimated to have cost tens of thousands of dollars. Kasnazan, who socialized with State Department officials while in Washington, told the Post that his choice of hotel was not part of a lobbying effort. “We just heard about this new Trump hotel in Washington, D.C., and thought it would be a good place to stay,” Kasnazan said. Trump’s D.C. hotel has become a favorite stop for influential foreigners, as well as Republican politicians who have an agenda to pursue with the Trump administration.