Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. have given up on plans for two new hotel lines, blaming a political climate “where everything will be used against us.”
Plans to expand the Trump empire with two hotel chains, Scion and American Idea, in dozens of U.S. cities have been put on ice as the Trump Organization faced scrutiny over whether it was conflict of interest to have the company’s owner running the country, the New York Times reported Thursday.
“We live in a climate where everything will be used against us, whether by the fake news or by democrats who are only interested in Presidential harassment and wasting everyone’s time, barraging us with nonsense letters,” Eric Trump said in a statement to the publication. “We already have the greatest properties in the world and if we have to slow down our growth for the time being, we are happy to do it.”
The Trumps had previously announced they had about 30 potential deals in the works, but to date, they had only announced one partner. On Thursday, the company announced that agreement had ended.
With the Trump name seen as polarizing, the president’s company faced local opposition to potential deals in Dallas and St. Louis. In other instances, potential partners feared increased scrutiny.
Since President Trump entered the White House, his company was paid to remove his name from hotels in Toronto and New York. Drama also erupted at the Trump hotel in Panama last year over the removal of the Trump name.
The presidency has not had a negative effect on all of the company’s business. A Trump-branded hotel in Vancouver and a golf course in Dubai, both of which were in the works before Trump was elected, have gone forward. Deals in India, Uruguay, and the Philippines are still ongoing.
