President Trump's company is reportedly considering a second D.C. hotel

President Trump's company is now eyeing a second Trump Hotel in the nation's capital, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. Trump opened his first hotel, the Trump International Hotel, while he was on the campaign trail last fall. The potential second hotel would be "more affordable" than the existing luxury hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue, and the Post noted that other developers would own the property, though they would pay the Trump Organization for "licensing rights and management."
Already, Trump's first hotel in Washington, D.C., has raised a plethora of ethics and conflicts of interest questions. The first event at Trump International Hotel was an official press conference called by Trump, then a presidential candidate, during which he noted the "brand-new ballroom" and deemed the hotel "one of the great hotels anywhere in the world." Since then, Trump has wined and dined his administration at the hotel, which resides on property leased by the federal government. Foreign embassies and political groups have also stayed at the hotel.
Though Trump initially promised that "no new deals" would be made by his company while he was in office, he later backed off of that pledge when he announced in January he was handing his business over to his sons. Instead, Trump said he would impose "severe new restrictions" on any new deals in the U.S.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The second D.C. hotel is far from a done deal, but it's apparently one of several hotels the Trump Organization is considering opening across the country under its new Scion brand. Eric Danziger, chief executive of the Trump Organization's hotel division, told The Washington Post he has "signed 'over 30' letters of intent — preliminary agreements — with developers to open Scions in cities across the country."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Does Reform have a Russia problem?
Talking Point Nigel Farage is ‘in bed with Putin’, claims Rachel Reeves, after party’s former leader in Wales pleaded guilty to taking bribes from the Kremlin
-
Five key questions about the Gaza peace deal
The Explainer Many ‘unresolved hurdles’ remain before Donald Trump’s 20-point plan can get the go-ahead
-
See the Northern Lights from these bucket list destinations
The Week Recommends The dazzling displays can be spotted across Iceland, Sweden and parts of Canada
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B deal
speed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to China
Speed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with Disney
Speed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B deal
Speed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
-
FCC greenlights $8B Paramount-Skydance merger
Speed Read The Federal Communications Commission will allow Paramount to merge with the Hollywood studio Skydance
-
Tesla reports plummeting profits
Speed Read The company may soon face more problems with the expiration of federal electric vehicle tax credits