The owners of Donald Trump’s former hotel in Washington are quietly shopping the rights to the property, which has reemerged as a hot watering hole for the MAGA crowd and those looking to influence it.
Investment bank BDT & MSD Partners has been sounding out potential buyers for the lease to the old Trump International Hotel as it continues to negotiate with the Trump Organization, people familiar with the matter said. A deal could be worth around $300 million, a discount to the $375 million the Trump family sold it for in 2022.
The hotel, opened in a landmarked Post Office building in 2016, embodies the boom and bust of Trump’s political and commercial fortunes. During Trump’s first term, it served as a kind of bazaar for politicians, foreign officials, and executives seeking favor or access.
The hotel hosted an Azerbaijani Hanukkah party, Franklin Graham’s gathering in defense of persecuted Christians, and a delegation of Saudi officials on a monthslong lobbying push against legislation that would have allowed families of 9/11 victims to sue the kingdom, according to documents later made public by House Democrats, who investigated potential violations of presidential ethics rules.
The crowds thinned after Trump left office, and the hotel was sold to a Miami investor who reopened it as a Waldorf-Astoria. The Spa by Ivanka closed, as did the lobby boutique of Brioni, the Italian clothier whose suits Trump favors.
One thing the hotel never did was make money: It lost $74 million between 2016 and 2020, financial records show. BDT & MSD bought the debt out of foreclosure last summer for a fraction of its face value. The Wall Street Journal reported last month the Trump family’s interest in reacquiring the hotel.
A spokeswoman for BDT & MSD declined to comment. The Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment.