Your trusted source

Donald Trump’s Washington, DC hotel lost more than $70m over the four-year period he was in the White House, The Independent reported, citing documents released by the House Oversight Committee.

In the four-year period from 2016 to 2020, the Trump International Hotel in the former Post Office Building on Pennsylvania Avenue, which is leased from the government, generated an income of $156m.

However, over that same period, coinciding with Mr Trump’s time occupying the White House a few blocks away, the property made a net loss of more than $70m.

This is the first time that Congress has been able to investigate and make public details of the former president’s finances, though they have been already been reviewed by the Manhattan district attorney, and the New York attorney general.

The documents were provided to the oversight committee by the government’s General Services Administration (GSA) and were prepared by WeiserMazars LLC, Mr Trump’s accountant.

Further examination of the records shows that the hotel had to be loaned a total $27m from another Trump holding company, DJT Holdings LLC, between 2017 and 2020. Of that over $24m was not repaid and was converted into capital contributions.

During the Trump presidency, Congress persistently sought details of foreign payments to Trump businesses. According to the committee, the Trump Hotel received more than $3.7m from foreign governments during Mr Trump’s time in office. This amount would have been sufficient to cover over 7,400 nights at the Trump Hotel at the average daily rate.