Closing the Trump Hotel in Washington

Tell me - Donald Trump is preparing to give up his Washington hotel, a 12-story tower where donors, lobbyists and foreign governments have gathered in hopes of gaining influence over the former US president.

The 12-story building, built in 1890 and later converted into a post office, is the third tallest tower in the US capital.

Trump saved the building from demolition in 2011 when he committed to investing $200 million in its restoration. The hotel opened in the fall of 2016, a few months before Trump's arrival in the White House.

Trump entrusted control of his real estate empire to his two sons after assuming the presidency of the United States, promising not to interfere in his real estate activities.

During his presidency, 150 officials from 77 foreign countries visited the Republican billionaire's estate, according to the NGO Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

US political groups spent a total of three million dollars to organize about forty events at the hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. Trump defended himself in 2016 when asked about mixing his presidential powers with his real estate business, saying, "The law is completely on my side, and presidents cannot have conflicts of interest."

However, the attempt to save the Trump International Hotel did not last long. A congressional investigation revealed that the hotel lost more than $70 million during Trump's presidency, and that the former president "grossly exaggerated" the hotel's profits.

The Trump Organization described the investigation as willfully dishonest, irresponsible and wrong, and as political harassment.

The Trump Organization sold the lease for $375 million to an investment fund that plans to reopen the hotel in early 2022 under the name "Waldorf Astoria."