Sunday, October 20, 2019

Even Republicans are left with a bad taste in their mouths






Donald Trump pulls his Doral property from consideration for G-7 after bipartisan blowback.  (USA Today, 10/20/2019)

Related articles:
Trump To Host G-7 Summit At His Doral Resort, Which Could Use The Business.  (Forbes, 10/17/2019)
The 800-acre property, which boasts four golf courses and a 643-room hotel, is Trump’s largest golf resort. It also has been hit the hardest by Trump’s move into politics.
Doral’s annual revenues have plummeted by an estimated 15% since 2016, from about $96 million to $81 million last year, according to a Forbes analysis of Trump’s financial disclosure forms.
Trump’s Decision to Host G7 at Doral Resort Raises Questions About Struggling Property, Deutsche Bank Loans.  (Fortune, 10/18/2019)
In fact, Mulvaney said, Doral would host the G7 “at cost.”
Yet it’s not apparent how the Trump Organization would ensure that it is the case. For instance, Mulvaney didn’t specify whether the company would refuse compensation and opt to pay for the event out of its own pocket. (The most recent G7 summit, held this year in Biarritz, France, reportedly cost French taxpayers north of $40 million—with previous summits in Canada and Italy said to have cost considerably more.) 
It’s also unclear why it would choose to go to such lengths, given the extent to which Doral has struggled financially in recent years. In May, the Washington Post reported that the 643-room resort had been hit by declining revenues and profits between 2015 and 2017, with both occupancy and room rates well below competing resorts in its area.

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