President-elect Donald Trump is reportedly looking into a deal to bring his former District of Columbia hotel back to life.
The president-elect’s company, the Trump Organization, is weighing options to either buy back the lease of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in downtown D.C. or strike a licensing deal to rebrand it as Trump International Hotel, the New York Post reported.
“Our family has saved the hotel once,” Eric Trump, the company’s executive vice president, told the Post on Friday. “If asked, we would save it again.”
Rumblings of a possible resurrection of the hotel come after the Trump Organization announced it will build Trump Tower in Jeddah, a coastal city in Saudi Arabia.
Mr. Trump sold his lease of D.C.’s 125-year-old Old Post Office Building for $375 million in 2022 after losing millions at the location during his first term. Still, the hotel, which was just down the street from the White House, was a magnet for Republicans and fundraisers.
Indeed, Republican operatives spent $266,000 there in the first six months it was open in 2016, according to data from the Federal Election Commission.
The luxury hotel has 263 rooms, with prices starting at roughly $600 a night, and boasts 35 suites and a 6,300-square-foot, two-story townhouse with a private entrance.
Once Mr. Trump severed ties and Hilton, which manages the Waldorf brand of hotels, took over, business fell off. The Trump Organization has not formally reached out about a deal on the property, but the president-elect is reportedly eying a possible hospitality investment in D.C.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.