45 made his 45th visit to a Trump business since first reports of coronavirus
45 made his 45th visit to a Trump business since first reports of coronavirus
Bedminster hosted Trump, executive order signing last weekend
President Donald J. Trump arrived at his Bedminster golf course Thursday evening and departed Sunday afternoon, bringing his total to 45 visits to Trump businesses since Chinese officials reported a cluster of cases of acute respiratory illness on Dec. 31, 2019.
The club’s website boasts that “Members at Trump National Bedminster enjoy exclusive events and celebrations for adults and families, alike.” On Saturday, one of those select experiences for Trump customers was getting to witness the U.S. president sign an executive order and three executive memorandums. And maybe scoring a commemorative pen.
While many onlookers weren’t wearing masks or social distancing, the president said his customers were engaging in a “peaceful protest,” reported
Toluse Olorunnipa for The Washington Post.
Trump reported more than $17.7 million in revenue from Bedminister last year. It’s unclear how much money U.S. taxpayers dished out to his club to host Saturday’s event.
[1100 Pennsylvania counts each day of a multi-night stay as a visit.]
D.C. insider yo-yo’d between lobbying and administration jobs, patronizing Trump properties all the while
A veteran trade lobbyist who joined the Trump Commerce Department in 2017, left to lobby again in 2019, and is now back in Trump’s government as a senior official at the Small Business Administration is also a regular presence at the president’s businesses.
Donald Trump—who has reported more than $120 million in revenue from just his D.C. hotel while president—has repeatedly promised to “drain the swamp” that is Washington, D.C.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Loretta Solon Greene rejoined the Trump administration in June 2020 as associate administrator for SBA’s Office of International Trade after spending 16 months working for her own firm, focusing on government and regulatory affairs regarding trade and energy.
The same month she assumed her second position in the Trump administration, Greene posted photos on Facebook showing her excited to see the Trump Hotel D.C. reopen for her business. And in July Greene had a wonderful day at Trump’s Sterling golf course.
This June marked the second time Greene had done the lobbyist-to-Trump-administration shuffle. In June 2017, she became a senior advisor in the Commerce Department’s International Trade Association after a seven-year stint at her government-affairs consultancy.
Some of Greene’s other Trump property appearances include
hanging in the Trump Townhouse at the D.C. hotel (its priciest suite) with Don Jr. and Brad Parscale
networking in the D.C. hotel’s lobby during at least two Trump First Tuesdays—the monthly happy hour for lobbyists (she posed with its organizer)
attending Virginia Women for Trump’s June 2018 Tea for Trump birthday party for the president at his D.C. hotel, which included a fashion show partially scored to North Korea’s national anthem
listening to the president, first lady, and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) at Mar-a-Lago in March 2019 during the Palm Beach County GOP’s Lincoln Day celebration
Greene has not replied to an inquiry about the extent of her Trump business patronage, involvement with Trump First Tuesdays and how her career path and Trump property visits square with the president’s pledge to “drain the swamp”
High Holiday vacation event returning to Doral
For the second straight year, Florida Kosher Vacations is offering the “High Holiday experience of a lifetime”—Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur programs at the Trump Doral.
And registration has begun (“with full compliance to full CDC guidelines and regulation”) according to the Facebook page of the organizers.
Notable sightings
A glimpse of the foreign officials, government employees, politicians, lobbyists, and the like who patronize or appear at Trump businesses. Most people shown here have reasons to want to influence the Trump administration, rely on its good graces for their livelihoods, or should be providing oversight. Additionally, high-profile guests serve as draws for paying customers.
Leah Trilling, a Trump campaign staffer who gets paid $4,250 every two weeks, was happy to kick back some of those funds to the candidate’s business.
After the last few episodes were shot elsewhere, this week’s installment of Prager U’s The Candace Owens Show returned to the priciest suite in the Trump Hotel D.C.
Other Trump Organization news
The September/October issue of Mother Jones contains your correspondent’s feature on what November’s election could mean for the Trump Hotel D.C. It’s available at fine newsstands.
“Trump’s bank was subpoenaed by N.Y. prosecutors in criminal inquiry” by David Enrich, Ben Protess, William K. Rashbaum and Benjamin Weiser for The New York Times
“Delays likely in Trump tax returns case after ‘McGahn’ ruling” by Aysha Bagchi for Bloomberg
“Irregularities in COVID reporting contract award process raise new questions” by Dina Temple-Raston and Tim Mak for NPR
On Wednesday, attorneys for the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee, the Trump Organization, and the Trump Hotel D.C. filed a motion that would delay discovery in the attorney general of D.C.’s lawsuit accusing the trio of “abusing nonprofit funds to enrich the Trump family.”
“The Trump-blessed America First Action has been outraised and outspent by the leading pro-Biden Super PAC Priorities USA, which has been running an array of blistering commercials hitting Trump over his response to the coronavirus pandemic,” reported Alex Isenstadt for Politico on Saturday. Meanwhile, America First Action has managed to spend almost $544,000 at the Trump Hotel D.C.
In one-time Trump appointee Cameron Dorsey’s lawsuit against the Trump Hotel D.C., alleging glass from a sabered bottle of champagne left a gash in her chin, on Wednesday, the plaintiff’s attorney moved to strike the defendant’s motion to compel testimony from Dorsey. Her lawyer argued that attorneys for the hotel had failed to “make any attempt to resolve the dispute” via counsel. Two days later the Trump Hotel D.C. opposed that motion, claiming it did so at the end of Dorsey’s deposition.
Yelp has cleaned up most of the one-star reviews the Trump Hotel D.C. received in the wake of Claudia Conway’s call to action.
Reference section
Links to rundowns of developments in the House’s investigations and lawsuits, reference sheets for some of 1100 Pennsylvania’s previous reporting, and articles that provide the background on why all of this matters. The date published or last updated is in parentheses.
Trackers
House investigations (Aug. 10, 2020)
Lawsuits (July 14, 2020)
Breakdown of judges’ rulings by political party of presidents who nominated them (July 13, 2020)
Health inspections (Jan. 27, 2020)
COVID-19 bailouts and charity (July 13, 2020)
Notable hotel customers
Foreign governments with representatives spotted at the Trump Hotel D.C.: 32 (Aug. 3, 2020)
Trump cabinet members spotted at the Trump Hotel D.C.: 27 of 35 (July 1, 2020)
U.S. Senators who’ve supported the Trump Hotel D.C.: 33 of 53 Republicans, one Democrat (Feb. 21, 2020)
House Judiciary members who’ve supported the Trump Hotel D.C.: Seven of 17 Republicans, no Democrats (April 21, 2020)
House Intelligence members who’ve supported the Trump Hotel D.C.: Four of eight Republicans, no Democrats (June 1, 2020)
House Oversight members who’ve supported the Trump Hotel D.C.: Nine of 17 Republicans, no Democrats (Aug. 2, 2020)
House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management who’ve supported the Trump Hotel D.C.: Four out of six Republicans, one Democrat (July 1, 2020)
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R–CA) found Trump’s hotels competitive only after Trump’s election (Sept. 12, 2019)
Rudy Giuliani at the Trump Hotel D.C: A retrospective (April 30, 2019)
Summaries
25 unimpeachable examples of Trump profiting from his hotel: Foreign governments, Trump administration, GOP lawmakers, industry all have called on the Trump Hotel D.C. since its owner became president (Sept. 27, 2019)
“Power tripping in the swamp: How Trump’s D.C. hotel swallowed Washington
The MAGA social scene is a movable feast, but its dark heart resides within the Old Post Office Building, where the Trump Org operates under a mercenary charter” by your correspondent for Vanity Fair (October 2019)“Inside the world’s most controversial hotel: The hotel that was expected to take its place among the crown jewels of D.C.’s travel scene has become a magnet for protestors, a West Wing Annex, and—possibly—the center of a constitutional crisis.” by your correspondent for Condé Nast Traveler (May 2018)
27 times Trump’s promoted his businesses on Twitter while president (May 12, 2020)
Upcoming key dates
Sept. 23, 2019—House Judiciary Committee hearing “Presidential corruption: Emoluments and profiting off the presidency” (postponed, not yet rescheduled)
Aug. 11, 2020—Scheduling conference before D.C. Superior Court in D.C. attorney general’s lawsuit alleging improperly spent nonprofit funds by the Trump Hotel D.C. and Trump’s inaugural committee
Aug. 11, 2020—Status conference via telephone on The Washington Post’s lawsuit against the Departments of Homeland Security and Defense seeking documents about their spending at Trump properties.
Aug. 21, 2020—In House Ways and Means’ lawsuit against the Treasury Department seeking Trump’s tax returns, deadline for both sides to file briefings about how an appellate court ruling in a separate case that Congress has standing to enforce subpoenas of White House officials impacts this suit.
Sept. 14, 2020—Discovery ends in a one-time Trump appointee’s lawsuit against the Trump Hotel D.C., alleging glass from a sabered bottle of champagne left a gash in her chin
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