Once it was for the Maga crowd like a second White House. Now it runs the risk of becoming a white elephant.
The Trump International Hotel in Washington was first hit by the coronavirus pandemic, and then by the owner’s election defeat, and suffered a huge loss of revenue and prestige. For critics of the former US president, this is a welcome proof of how fast the city is moving without him.
“It used to be the center of Trump World, but I can not imagine who is going there now,” he said. Sally Quinn, a local writer and journalist. “We do not even have tourists in Washington yet. I can not imagine most people staying there when they come. I do not know anyone who goes there or goes there. ”
The hotel opened amid protests in the historic Old Post Office building in Pennsylvania Avenue, between the White House and the American Capitol building, in September 2016 while Trump was running for the presidency.
Its lush lobby was filled with diplomats, lobbyists and Trump family members for four years. It was one of the few places in the American capital where ‘Make America great again’ hats abounded. But a recent afternoon, it looks more like the haunted house in Stanley Kubrick’s film The Shining.
Steel barriers surrounded the beautiful facade with its five American flags and statue of the first postmaster general Benjamin Franklin. A black-covered porter explained that only people invited by guests are allowed due to coronavirus restrictions. When the Guardian called the reception desk, a man who identified himself as the driver said: ‘I do not want to comment. Thank you for your call, ”then hangs.
The hotel in Washington earned only $ 15.1 million in revenue last year, down more than 60% from the previous year. Then came Trump’s election loss and accusation of inciting a deadly uprising some distance away at the US Capitol on January 6, which caused great reputational damage.
On January 20, Trump boarded the Marine One helicopter to begin a new post-presidential life on his luxury estate Mar-a-Lago in Florida, depriving the hotel of one of its biggest attractions. A week later, the New York Times reported that the lobby was largely vacant and that the waiters and staff members were fewer than the customers.
There was little mourning in Washington itself, where Joe Biden received 92% of the vote compared to Trump’s 5%. Except for official duties, the 45th president was rarely seen in the city, he almost never visited museums or theaters and only went out to eat in the Trump hotel itself.
Last month, the Washingtonian reported that table 72 in a round stand at the hotel’s steakhouse was always reserved for the president in case he decided to visit it at the urging of the moment. The magazine also said it had obtained a “Standard Operating Procedure” document that staff should follow when Trump arrives.
Once Trump sat down, the server had to ‘discreetly present’ a small bottle of Purell hand sanitizer. (This is a long time coming for Covid, please note.), ”Reads the report. ‘Discuss the dialogue:’ Good (time of day) Mr President. Do you want Diet Coke with or without ice cream? ‘the server has been instructed to recite.
A polished tray with chilled bottles and high ball glasses has already been prepared for both reactions. The directions for pouring the soda are set out in a process of no less than seven steps – and illustrated with four photo exhibitions. The liquor had to ‘never before’ be opened before the head of the germophobic.
The server had to hold a bottle opener with a long neck on the bottom third of the handle in one hand and the Diet Coke, also on the bottom third, in the other. Once poured, the drink had to be placed to the right of the president. “Repeat until POTUS leaves.” ‘
According to the Washingtonian, Trump has always eaten the same meal: shrimp cocktail, homemade steak and fries, sometimes with apple pie or chocolate cake for dessert. “The manual instructed the server to open mini-glass bottles of Heinz tomato salad in front of Trump, to make sure he made the seal sound the ‘pop’.”
A tray with chips, chocolate, granola bars, Tic Tacs, gummy bears, Oreos, raisins covered with chocolate and other snacks had to be on hand. The magazine added that Trump once asked to know why his companion got a bigger steak than he did, while First Lady Melania Trump once sent back a Dover sole because it was dressed with parsley and chives.
The hotel and its steakhouse witnessed a cavalcade of Maga stars from attorney Rudy Giuliani to White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, from Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz to MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. Former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and his wife, British actor Louise Linton, have even lived there for some time.
Members of the Trump family were also prominent, a raffle for fans looking for selfies, and guests could treat themselves to ‘The Spa by Ivanka Trump’, including a ‘Himalayan salt room’ and ‘fitness center featuring the latest Technogym’s equipment ‘- but temporarily closed due to Covid-19. The bar was a place to sit and watch various TV screens showing sports or Fox News.
It was, in fact, a Trump embassy in this otherwise liberal city. Quinn remarked, ‘He never went anywhere except the Trump Hotel, and most of his people did not, it was just like an occupying army. You did not see them and everyone went on with their lives like that, but there was this awful dark cloud over our heads.”
In 2019, Trump allegedly tried to sell the hotel for about $ 500 million, but it is now said that these plans are at stake. The hotel is nine storeys long and has 263 rooms. A comfortable look at his website shows rooms available from $ 476 per night, suites from $ 1,122 per night and characteristic suites from $ 1,316 per night.
Kevin Chaffee, senior editor of Washington Life magazine, said: ‘The Trump Hotel has been struggling for some time, and without it being there, people do not have to give the favor by staying there. Some embassies had their events there and they do not have to do it now. ”
He added: ‘The bar was like the rubbish of the White House, but those people have no more reason to meet and try to find out what is happening on the scene, because the man is gone. So it must be like a ghost town. ‘
The Trumps left few other traces in Washington. The former president’s daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, vacated a mansion they rented in the Kalorama area while working as senior advisers at the White House.
The couple has since moved to a luxury apartment in Miami, Florida. Their old home is listed by real estate agents as still available for $ 18,000 a month. It has six bedrooms and seven bathrooms, spans 5,016 square feet and is a stone’s walk from Barack and Michelle Obama’s home.
Jack Shrestha, owner of the Kalorama Guest House, which is a mile away, said: ‘The residents in my neighborhood where I live are more than 90% Democrats, so they are glad Trump is gone. But I’m a business owner. I’m not taking sides. For me, it does not even matter.
‘Ivanka’s son went to school where my daughter went to school, a Jewish school in Cleveland Park. So I saw how she was going to drop the child off out there. We did not say much because they told us not to talk to her and take pictures. ”
Washington is littered with memorials, monuments and statues of former presidents. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris are already making themselves visible. For now, though, Trump’s hotel is spelling out his name in golden letters on Pennsylvania Avenue, arguably America’s most famous street.
Quinn said: “I suspect whoever buys it will take down all the gilding and all the embellishments and turn it into something else that is very untrumped.”