Trump Organization ousted from Panama hotel, ending standoff with property owners

Trump Organization executives and security guards left the administrative offices and property of the Panama hotel, according to reports. A legal dispute between the tower’s majority owner, Orestes Fintiklis, and the company is predicted to continue, but as of Monday, the Trump Organization gave up physical possession of the tower.

“This was purely a commercial dispute that just spun out of control,” Fintiklis told reporters, according to reports. “And today, this dispute has been settled by the authorities and the judges of this country.”

A photo from a New York Times reporter showed a worker removing the Trump name from the hotel sign.

Fintiklis, a Miami-based businessman, bought 202 of the property’s 369 units last year and attempted to take over management of the property from the Trump Organization.

But the company, which Trump still owns but is run by sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, rebuked the effort and refused to give up physical possession of the tower.

Fintiklis then went to the Panama City property last month with termination notices but was stopped by security officials with the Trump Organization.

The businessman alleged he saw the company’s management officials destroying documents, though the Trump Organization denied doing so.

Since then, security guards with the Trump Organization have gone head-to-head with security teams for the hotel’s ownership over control of the tower’s administrative offices and other infrastructure.

That standoff appeared to end Monday, when a Panamanian judicial official, joined by police, granted Fintiklis control of the hotel.

“Today Panama has made us proud,” Fintiklis said, according to the Associated Press.

The hotel opened in 2011, and the Trump Organization entered into a contract to manage the tower until 2031.