The family business · First term · № 28
Stay by Saudi crown prince's entourage lifts revenue at Trump's New York hotel
- Date
- , Reported by The Washington Post from a hotel manager's letter to investors
- Subject
- Saudi Arabia
- Benefit
- Gifts and payments
- Government
- Saudi Arabia
- Beneficiary
- Donald Trump (Trump International Hotel, New York)
- Topic
- Ethics & conflicts
- Era
- First term
What happened
The general manager of the Trump International Hotel in Manhattan wrote to investors on May 15, 2018 that room revenue rose 13 percent in the first quarter after two years of decline, and that one major factor was "a last-minute visit to New York by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia," The Washington Post reported on August 3, 2018. The letter said the crown prince and royal family members did not stay at the hotel but that it accommodated "many of the accompanying travelers" during a five-day stay in March. The Post noted that the Trump Organization manages the hotel but does not own it. A Saudi Embassy spokeswoman said no one in the crown prince's official delegation stayed there and that she did not know whether the government paid for any travelers who did; the Trump Organization did not answer questions about who paid. The Post also reported that bookings from Saudi Arabia at Trump's Chicago hotel rose from 81 room-nights in the first half of 2016 to 218 in the first half of 2018.
Sources
- At President Trump's hotel in New York, revenue went up this spring — thanks to a visit from big-spending Saudis
- 'I like them very much:' Trump has long-standing business ties with Saudis, who have boosted his hotels since he took office
- 'I love the Saudis': Trump business ties to kingdom run deep
- White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump
- Saudi Arabia: Freedom in the World 2018 Country Report