In lieu of our usual feature on the happenings at the Trump International Hotel in D.C., the president has provided us with a rare look at some financials that go to the heart of the hotel’s moral hazard.
According to financial disclosures filed with the Office of Government Ethics this week, Trump took in more than $40 million in income from the hotel last year. That’s compared to less than $20 million he reported from January 2016 through April 2017. There’s some overlap there, which makes a precise comparison difficult, but measured on a monthly basis, Trump’s reported income from the hotel shot up about 174 percent. That’s compared to a 10 percent decline in monthly income from Mar-a-Lago, and a 14 percent decline from Trump Doral in Miami. (The biggest increase was for Trump’s golf club in Dubai: The president's monthly income from that club skyrocketed by more than 1,350 percent last year.)
The Trump Hotel’s success will not come as a surprise to anyone who’s spent time there. On any given night of the week, you’re likely to run across at least one Trump White House official, allied lobbyist or operative, foreign dignitary, Cabinet secretary, or supportive media personality. Trade associations and PACs and political influencers who want to get into the good graces of the president’s inner circle would be foolish not to spend some time at its gilded lobby bar nibbling on the complimentary almonds and jelly beans.
Few hotels, even in Washington, can boast the competitive advantage of serving up political good will. It’s a powerful—and, for Trump, lucrative—draw.
