Donald Trump has been trying unsuccessfully to unload his struggling namesake D.C. hotel for the past two years. Now, just as he may have found a potential buyer, a reporter might have derailed the whole thing.
Forbes reporter Zach Everson say he was permanently banned from the luxury hotel for allegedly “taking photos without permission” inside the lobby.
According Everson, he was “banned for life” after snapping pictures of a corporate event being hosted by a pest control company at the hotel while he was there investigating why rates inexplicably skyrocketed from $400 to $2,400 for that night only.
Last night I was banned for life from the Trump Hotel DC.https://t.co/K7jG5O7yBJ
— Zach Everson (@Z_Everson) August 27, 2021
Everson said he was coming out of the hotel bar restroom when the director of security, Ernest Wojciech, stormed over and told him he must leave immediately and could never return ever again for the rest of his life.
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Coincidentally, Everson’s ban for taking photos of the pest control event comes just as the Trump Organization may have finally–finally!–found someone interested in purchasing the tainted 263-room property.
The building has been sitting on the market with no interested buyers since 2019. Trump initially wanted $500 million for it, but dropped the price by a massive $100 million after his realtor quit and business nosedived following the January 6 insurrection.
Earlier this year, video from inside the lobby went viral on Twitter, showing a cold, barren, and empty landscape.
?Trump Hotel, DC – Looks like they drained the swamp pic.twitter.com/dgDg3HxRbp
— Jane Mayer (@JaneMayerNYer) January 27, 2021
If the reported deal goes through, it would mean Trump’s big, golden name will be scrubbed from the outside of the building.
The Trump Organization has not commented on Everson’s ban or its negotiations for unloading the property.
Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
BaltoSteve
Well, considering that hotel is dying.. more like ban for the life of that business… Ban ending in 5…..4….3…2…
Mack
I was thinking the same thing. The ban will only last until Trump sells or loses it.
Cam
Buyers would be smart to wait a bit longer, they’ll be able to snap up the Hotel’s lease as a bargain price during the bankruptcy sale.
Bengali
Trump needs to sell probably to pay his mounting legal bills when he’s officially charged for his role in the insurrection. Ooh. Maybe Rudy and Sidney and Lin Wood can represent him, guaranteeing that Trump will end up in prison. Remember, with the above three named so called attorneys, they represent their issues based on feelings…not facts.
Fahd
I don’t see any source listed for this rumored sale that’s about to go through. That seems like the oldest real estate agent tactic – “I’ve got another buyer who’s interested”. I’ll be interested to see if a source for the alleged rumored sale or the sale itself happens anytime soon. Long escrow?
Essie
I also think any hotel chain should wait for the bankruptcy unloading. It has to happen soon. They could probably get it for less than $200M . . . and then spend $100M to get rid of the awful decor.
Thad
Pest control is a fact of life in cities. I’d worry about establishments that didn’t use it.
Having the Trump name scrubbed from another hotel shouldn’t surprise anyone. It happened FOUR times in Atlantic City.. with two demolitions and two sales.
unreligious
Reading comprehension is your friend. It was a corporate event sponsored by a pest control company. It was not about the place using them to control pests.
BoomerMyles
It also happened in Toronto, Vancouver and the NYC Soho properties.
jcool
i read that when the hotel was first listed, one of the provisions in the contract was that the buyer had to keep the name trump on the hotel. do they not know WHY it’s losing money?
BoomerMyles
They can’t keep the tfg name if it has a new brand.
scrough
When they said banned for life, they meant the life of their business – which shouldn’t be too much longer.
woodroad34
Toothless and ineffective ban.. how Trumpian. Honestly what a disease the Trump name is.