Eric Trump claimed Wednesday that his family’s brand is “hotter than ever before,” rejecting claims from others who say Donald Trump is ruining his brand with his unorthodox run for the White House.
“I think, actually, the brand is hotter than ever before. We’re seeing that across the board with hotels. We’re building hotels all over the country, all over the world. We’re doing great things,” said Trump’s son during a Wednesday Fox News interview while standing in front of Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., the same day as the official opening. The five-star hotel with 263 guest rooms and suites had a soft opening in September and has been accepting customers.
But according to an article published by New York Magazine two weeks ago, room rates have been slashed to under $500 — below the $750 break-even rate for the rooms in the hotel — even when rivals are completely booked weeks ahead of time. NBC News reported that more recently that Trump’s newest hotel line, Scion, won’t bear the family name at all.
Trump bragged that the corporation built renovated the historic post office building under budget and ahead of schedule, quipping “wouldn’t it be great if our government could do that?”
“It was the postmaster general office,” said Trump. “We converted it into an amazing hotel. It came out, as you said, under budget, ahead of schedule, and it’s incredible. Absolutely incredible. I wish you could see it one of these days.”
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban tweeted Friday that Donald Trump’s hotel and golf empire is “toast.”
