WASHINGTON (AP) – Red, white and blue balloons rained down over crystal chandeliers in the soaring atrium of the Trump International Hotel at midnight Friday – “a new inaugural tradition,” its social media account promised.
But while President Donald Trump’s hotel in Washington did serve as a hub of inaugural activities, it also stands as ground zero for what top Democrats and some ethics advisers see as his unique web of conflicts of interest.
Trump’s lease with the federal government to develop and operate a hotel inside the historic Old Post Office building expressly prohibits any elected official from benefiting from the property, yet Trump has not divested from his company or this particular project.
The government’s General Services Administration previously said it would refrain from commenting on the apparent contract violation until Trump took office, which he did at noon Friday. The agency did not respond to requests for comment.
“I think it’s a simple matter of amending the lease,” said Patrick Keogh, a real estate investor in Austin, Texas, who has developed projects for the GSA and other federal agencies. He said Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and chief negotiator on the hotel, should ask the GSA to exempt her father from that provision of the contract. The GSA should make the process public and transparent, Keogh said.