President Trump’s company and high-profile D.C. chef José Andrés have agreed to a settlement in a lawsuit that stems from the chef’s decision to pull out of a planned restaurant in Trump’s hotel at the Old Post Office, both parties said Friday.
Terms of the settlement were not divulged in a joint statement issued Friday by the Trump Organization and Andrés’ ThinkFoodGroup.
“I am glad that we are able to put this matter behind us and move forward as friends,” the president’s son, Donald Trump, Jr., said.
Andrés said: “I am pleased that we were able to resolve our differences and move forward cooperatively, as friends. I have great respect for the Trump Organization’s commitment to excellence in redeveloping the Old Post Office.”
In July of 2015, Andrés decided to back out of a lease for a multimillion dollar restaurant that would accompany the estimated $200 million restoration of the Old Post Office Hotel by The Trump Organization, a company which was formerly directly under Trump’s control, but now is run by Donald Trump Jr.
Andrés, an immigrant from Spain, cited rhetoric by then-candidate Trump as his reason for backing out of the deal, a decision that came just a month after Trump announced his candidacy in which he made disparaging remarks about illegal immigrants from Mexico.
Trump sued for $10 million and Andrés countersued for $8 million.
The settlement comes just a week after Trump also finalized the settlement in the case of a class action suit against Trump University. Also, just two weeks ago, Trump won an ethics decision from the General Services Administration regarding his financial interest in managing the Old Post Office, which is still technically a property of the federal government.
