The family business · 2016 campaign · № 18

Family business

Azerbaijan's embassy co-hosts a Hanukkah party at Trump's Washington hotel during the transition

Date
, Reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, December 3, 2016
Subject
Azerbaijan
Benefit
Gifts and payments
Government
Azerbaijan Freedom House: Not Free (2016)
Beneficiary
Donald Trump (Trump International Hotel, Washington)
Topic
Ethics & conflicts
Era
2016 campaign

What happened

The Embassy of Azerbaijan and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations co-hosted a Hanukkah party at the Trump International Hotel in Washington on December 14, 2016, five weeks before Trump took office. Malcolm Hoenlein of the Conference told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the embassy had rented the location because of its proximity to the White House. Eight Jewish organizations declined to attend, and human rights groups demonstrated outside the hotel. The cost was not reported. A January 2024 report by Democratic staff of the House Oversight Committee said records from Trump's accounting firm indicate that Azerbaijan had an account at a Trump-owned property after his election, without showing amounts or purposes. The Trump Organization ended its licensing deal for a tower in Baku the same month.

Sources

  1. Azerbaijan’s embassy to co-host Hanukkah party at Trump’s DC hotel Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Dec 3, 2016
  2. Azerbaijani Embassy To Host Party At Trump Hotel In Washington Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Dec 6, 2016
  3. Freedom Now Protests Trump Hotel Hanukkah Party Co-Hosted by Azerbaijani Embassy The Armenian Weekly, Dec 15, 2016
  4. Anti-Trump Boycott of Azerbaijan-Hosted Hanukkah Party Will Harm Muslim-Jewish Ties, Leaders Say The Algemeiner (JNS), Dec 13, 2016
  5. White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Democratic Staff, Jan 4, 2024
  6. Donald Trump’s Worst Deal The New Yorker, Mar 5, 2017
  7. Azerbaijan: Freedom in the World 2017 Country Report Freedom House, 2017