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DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Sat Jun 17, 2017, 10:29 AM Jun 2017

Trump Reveals Flat Revenue at Controversial Washington Hotel

by Bill Allison and Caleb Melby
June 17, 2017, 12:00 AM EDT

- Discloses at least $528.9 million in total revenue and income

- Hotel lost $1.2 million in first weeks, lawmakers say

President Donald Trump’s latest financial disclosure indicates that his Washington, D.C., hotel hasn’t seen a major jump in monthly revenue since his election -- despite critics’ concerns that it might draw spending from people seeking to win the president’s favor.

The hotel, which got off to a money-losing start last year, reported roughly flat average monthly revenue through April 15, according to the 98-page disclosure, which was released Friday evening by the federal Office of Government Ethics.

The disclosure form, the first Trump has filed since taking office, says that his hundreds of holdings produced at least $528.9 million over a 15 1/2-month period that ended in April. That number appears to mix revenue with income, as Trump’s previous disclosures have.

Trump International Hotel Washington D.C., which is housed in a building that Trump’s company leases from the federal government, has drawn criticism over concern that foreign officials would patronize it in order to influence Trump. It reported $19.7 million of “hotel-related revenue” on the disclosure form released Friday.

That would represent about $2.8 million a month -- comparable to the monthly rate that was disclosed earlier this year by a group of congressional Democrats. The lawmakers cited figures gathered by the General Services Administration showing that the hotel, which opened Sept. 12, had revenue of $4.1 million in September and October. In those two months, expenses outstripped revenue and the hotel lost $1.2 million, according to the lawmakers’ letter.

more
https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-06-17/trump-reveals-flat-revenue-at-controversial-washington-hotel

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Trump Reveals Flat Revenue at Controversial Washington Hotel (Original Post) DonViejo Jun 2017 OP
So the question is... DURHAM D Jun 2017 #1
There's an implication that "critics' concerns" about using the hotel to curry favor... JHB Jun 2017 #2

JHB

(37,132 posts)
2. There's an implication that "critics' concerns" about using the hotel to curry favor...
Sat Jun 17, 2017, 10:47 AM
Jun 2017

...haven't panned out.

However, that's not incompatible with a loss. If other people are steering clear of the place for various reasons -- they don't want to put money in his pocket, they want to avoid the appearance of impropriety because it might bite them later, it's mediocre and too expensive, etc. -- then the loss of business may simply outweigh the favor-seekers.

And it's not as if Trump never ever misjudged demand for something he built.

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