Trump Org encouraged New Yorkers to golf today

Mar 20, 2020

With New York officials advocating residents stay at home, Trump Ferry Point recommends golfing to ‘exercise social distancing’

With New York City’s mayor pushing for residents to shelter in place and the state’s governor mandating businesses require 75 percent of their staff to work from home in response to the coronavirus, the president’s Bronx golf course suggested practicing social distancing by getting in a round of 18 today.

Just after 9 a.m. Friday, President Donald J. Trump’s money-losing Ferry Point golf club tweeted, “Looking to get some #freshair? The golf course is a great place to relieve stress and exercise social distancing #openingday.”

The day before that tweet, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) had “ordered 75 percent of the workforce in nonessential services to stay at home”, while New York City Mayor Bill de Blassio (D) had been pushing for a shelter-in-place order, reported Berkeley Lovelace Jr. and Noah Higgins-Dunn for CNBC.

And just hours after Trump Ferry Point encouraged New Yorkers (and everyone else for that matter) to leave their houses and play golf, Cuomo announced that he would sign an executive order effective Sunday evening “mandating that 100% of workforce must stay home, excluding essential services.”

As of 2:00 p.m. Friday it still was possible to book Friday, Saturday, and Sunday tee times at Ferry Point both via its website and by phone. No slots were available the following week though, which is after Cuomo’s order for all workers to stay at home takes effect. Representatives from the Trump Organization have not responded to inquiries asking if Ferry Point had followed the governor’s orders from yesterday and reduced its on-site staff by 75 percent today, whether it still planned to open tomorrow and Sunday, and if the company considered golf an essential service.

On Friday afternoon though, Ben Protess, Steve Eder and Eric Lipton reported for The New York Times that Trump Org EVP Eric Trump said, “As an organization we are following federal, state and local direction and guidance very carefully.”

Two hours after Ferry Point’s suggested practicing in social distancing by coming in and playing golf, Trump’s Sterling, Virginia club did likewise.

President Trump, of course, also has advocated social distancing while not exactly practicing it.

A year later, Trump Store is still hawking merchandise featuring the White House

On March 20, 2019, the Trump Store debuted a collection that featured at least four items depicting the White House (a story 1100 Pennsylvania broke at the time). The offerings violated the Trump Organization’s pledge not to use the presidency to market itself. And while the company didn’t provide a reason for doing so, 18 days later the Trump Store announced it was discontinuing the line.

A year after it debuted, however, the Trump Store continues to sell bar soap and a gift set with packaging showing the White House.

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Recently your correspondent appeared again on MSNBC’s “The Beat with Ari Melber” to share 1100 Pennsylvania’s reporting on the Trump Hotel D.C. Additionally, 1100 Pennsylvania’s reporting has been cited by The Associated Press, The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Business Insider, Capital (French), The Daily Beast, The Daily Mail, The Guardian, The Hartford Courant, Inside Edition, Ireland’s Newstalk radio, NBC News, The New York Times, The Palm Beach Post, Stern (German), The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Examiner, The Washington Post, Washingtonian, and Yahoo News.

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Other Trump Organization coronavirus news

“Will Donald Trump bail out his coronavirus-battered company?” by Russ Choma for Mother Jones
Mar-a-Lago is closed, shared Eric Lipton of The New York Times on Friday afternoon.
“The war on coronavirus comes to Trump properties” by Ben Protess, Steve Eder, and Eric Lipton for The New York Times
“Which Trump properties have been open during the coronavirus outbreak?” by Aaron Mak for Slate
Because of the coronavirus, Trump Hotels’ website reports that all properties have waived “cancellation fees for direct business and leisure traveler bookings,” as well as given groups and advance purchases with reservations in March and April 10 months to rebook and apply any money already spent to future stays.
Friday evening their time, Trump Aberdeen promoted itself by mentioning its “enhanced sanitization measures.”
Trump Jupiter remains open and it appears at least two customers used the president’s property to give up on social distancing.
When Vanity Fair’s Caleb Ecarma spoke with Eric Bolling about his thoughts on fixing the economy, the Blaze TV host had just departed the Trump Hotel D.C.

Other Trump Organization news

Early Friday morning, President Trump endorsed Sen. Steve Daines’s (R-MT) re-election. Daines’s campaign has reported spending $1,961.94 at the Trump Hotel Las Vegas.

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 (March 16, 2020)
Lawsuits (March 1, 2020)
Breakdown of judges’ rulings by political party of presidents who nominated them in emoluments, unfair competition, and House committee investigations lawsuits (March 1, 2020)
Health inspections (latest change Jan. 27, 2020)

Notable hotel customers

Foreign governments with representatives spotted at the Trump Hotel D.C.: 31 (March 4, 2020)
Trump cabinet members spotted at the Trump Hotel D.C.: 26 of 33 (Feb. 18, 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 (Oct. 17, 2019)
House Intelligence members who’ve supported the Trump Hotel D.C.: Five of nine Republicans, 0 Democrats (Feb. 7, 2020)
House Oversight members who’ve supported the Trump Hotel D.C.: Six of 17 Republicans, no Democrats (Feb. 21, 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.: Five out of six Republicans, one Democrat (March 5, 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)

Upcoming key dates

Sept. 23, 2019—House Judiciary Committee hearing “Presidential corruption: Emoluments and profiting off the presidency” (postponed, not yet rescheduled)
Jan. 23, 2020—Trump Organization’s deadline to bid for the lease rights to its D.C. hotel.
March 20, 2020—Status hearing before D.C. Superior Court in former hotel employees’ lawsuit alleging racial discrimination, postpone due to coronavirus-related closure
March 31, 2020—Before postponement due to coronavirus-related closure, the Supreme Court was to hear Trump’s appeal of earlier rulings requiring his financial institutions to comply with subpoenas from House Financial Services, Intelligence, and Oversight Committees and the New York district attorney’s office
April 6, 2020—Deadline for parties to exchange witness lists in lawsuit alleging a shard of glass from a sabered bottle of champagne left a gash in a customer’s chin
June 2020—Before postponement or oral arguments due to a coronavirus-related closure, Supreme Court decision due on Trump’s appeal of earlier rulings requiring his financial institutions to comply with subpoenas from House Financial Services, Intelligence, and Oversight

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