Trump’s First Dinner Out in DC: His Own Hotel
Donald Trump picked a familiar spot for his first dinner out in Washington since becoming president: his own hotel.
Trump’s motorcade arrived at the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, a recently renovated property located less than a mile from the White House, shortly before 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The White House said Trump was dining with his daughter Ivanka Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who is also a senior adviser to the president.
Scenes posted on social media from inside the hotel also showed Trump with Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) and former U.K. Independence Party leader Nigel Farage, a campaign backer.
At Trump hotel. Secret Service swarms the place. Trump walks in, sits down next to me w/ Gov. Rick Scott, Nigel Farage, Ivanka & Kuchner pic.twitter.com/5ZgTUixvwR
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) February 26, 2017
The group of White House reporters that trails Trump, known as the “pool,” was held in vans and not permitted to enter the building.
The visit is likely to add to buzz surrounding the president’s potential conflicts of interest stemming from his business empire.
The building that houses the hotel — the Old Post Office — was leased by Trump from the federal government.
Language in the lease says that no U.S. elected official “shall be admitted to any share or part of this Lease, or to any benefit that may arise therefrom.”
Critics have said that Trump is in violation of the lease agreement.
Trump has repeatedly denied that he has conflicts of interests. He announced at a Jan. 11 press conference he would take steps to distance himself from his businesses, but he has not divested in his companies.
Republican lawmakers, some of whom have been reluctant to probe Trump’s potential business conflicts, have flagged the hotel lease as a point of concern.
House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said last month he has requested a copy of the contract.
“I did request from the [Government Services Administration] the full, unredacted contract,” Chaffetz told reporters earlier this month. “I requested that the first part of December. I still don’t have it. It will be interesting to see what they produce and what their take on that is. But I don’t have that yet.”
Ethics watchdogs have said Trump could be in violations of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution if his properties take payments from foreign governments.
That clause, aimed at curbing corruption, says that “no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, without the consent of the congress, accept of any present, emolument, office or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.”
An attorney representing the Trump said at the January news conference he would donate any hotel profits from foreign governments to the U.S. Treasury.