Trump Nears Deal For Washington DC Hotel, Rumored To Run For Office In 2024

Former President Donald Trump is reportedly in advanced talks to sell rights to his Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.

The hotel is located on Pennsylvania Avenue just blocks away from the White House in the 122-year-old Old Post Office building, which Trump leases from the federal government.

The former president would sell the leasing rights of the hotel to a real estate developer, who would then negotiate with hotel companies that would manage the property and overhaul it, Axios reported. Trump, who initially tried to sell the leased federal property in the fall of 2019, declined the media outlet's request for comment.

Now, Trump is likely to receive less than the original $500 million that he reportedly sought that year, according to sources. The hotel was a central setting during his chaotic presidency and the move will surely be savored by his political opponents.

Trump leases the Old Post Office property from the General Services Administration (GSA) under a 60-year agreement way back in 2013. In 2017, the GSA said that the Trump Organization was paying $250,000 monthly in base rent, which was slated to rise with inflation costs.

Business Insider India reported that during Trump's tenure in office from 2017 to 2021, the hotel became a main gathering spot for Republican lobbyists and prominent figures within the former president's circle - from attorney Rudy Giuliani to MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic coupled with Trump's election loss and his subsequent move to Florida - the hotel's profits plunged in 2020.

The Guardian reported that sources from Iowa, however, indicated that the former president is close to announcing an attempt to return to Washington D.C. and make a run for President as a Republican nominee in 2024.

According to the Des Moines Register, at a dinner in Dallas County, Iowa on Thursday, the Ohio congressman Jim Jordan, a close Trump ally, told Republicans: “I think he’s gonna run. I want him to run. He’s proven he can take the heat.”

He was criticized after a liberal activist covertly recorded him being more definite about Trump’s plans, telling attendees: “President Trump, he’s gonna run again.” Jordan denied the remark, before the footage was released.

Another Trump ally, his former adviser Jason Miller, told Cheddar TV on Thursday the chances of another run were “somewhere between 99 and 100%. I think he’s definitely running in 2024.”