Donald Trump's Financial Disclosure Shows Less Revenue For 2019

A financial disclosure report on Tuesday revealed that Donald Trump’s Washington DC hotel and other properties had brought in $440 million in 2019. However, the report provided little evidence that his role as president has provided a major boost to his businesses.

Based on the disclosure report, Donald Trump’s hotel in DC and his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, both had less revenue for the third year in a row last year, while his golf clubs in Miami and New Jersey had had slightly more. His assets were also estimated at more than $1.3 billion, slightly down from their total value the previous year. The report revealed that his businesses did not necessarily benefit from his presidency, as many of his critics had thought.

The disclosure report also revealed that not even Trump’s businesses were spared by the COVID-19 pandemic. His Doral and Mar-a-Lago clubs were among the several businesses that had to close this year due to the coronavirus. In March and April, the clubs laid off at least 1,300 of their workers.

The umbrella group for all of Trump’s holdings, the Trump Organization, also struggled with boycotts and business blowback this year due to the president’s divisive policies. Even before the pandemic struck the U.S., several buildings had already stripped the Trump name from their facades. The failure of the organization to sign up business partners prevented it from rolling out two of its newest hotel chains last year.

However, Trump’s disclosure report only offered a partial picture of how his businesses had fared in recent months. According to reports, Trump refused to disclose his tax returns to give a better picture of his revenues and profits—a first in the modern U.S. presidency.

Meanwhile, Trump’s filing included the financial disclosures of his two advisers, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner. The couple reported at least $36 million in revenue for 2019, at least $3.9 million of which came from Ivanka’s investment stake in her father’s Washington DC hotel. They also reported new liabilities amounting to $5 to $25 million.