The General Services Administration (GSA), which owns the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., determined this Thursday that President Donald J. Trump’s administration is not in violation with the hotel’s lease. Bisnow reported that Trump handed control of the hotel to his son, Donald Trump, Jr., in February.
The Washington Business Journal reported that GSA Contracting Officer Kevin Terry wrote in a letter that Trump Old Post Office LLC took the necessary steps to make sure that hotel funds did not “flow to the President.”
In the GSA’s lease, there is a clause that states that no U.S. elected official is allowed to benefit from the lease.
In response to the GSA’s statement released this Thursday, Government Oversight Committee ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings and transportation and infrastructure committee ranking member Rep. Peter DeFazio released a joint statement that read, "This decision allows profits to be reinvested back into the hotel so Donald Trump can reap the financial benefits when he leaves the White House. This is exactly what the lease provision was supposed to prevent.”
Whether or not the GSA will put the matter to rest is still unclear.
• Trump's D.C. hotel deemed in full compliance of federal lease [Washington Business Journal]
• GSA: On second thought, Trump’s Old Post Office arrangement does not violate lease [Bisnow]