Attorneys for President Trump filed a motion on Tuesday rejecting a local wine bar’s lawsuit that the Trump Hotel in Washington has stolen business from the 14th Street NW establishment.
Cork Wine Bar sued Trump in early March charging unfair competition from the 1100 Pennsylvania Ave. NW luxury hotel.
Trump’s team maintained the move was a “wild publicity stunt,” and the motion stated Trump is immune from such claims because of his position.
“Just as the president should not have to fear that individuals will hold him personally liable for what he ultimately decides to do as president, neither should he have to fear personal liability simply because he is the president,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. “But that is what the complaint seeks.”
Cork Wine Bar owners Khalid Pitts and Diane Gross, who previously worked for liberal lawmakers or groups, said Trump and his hotel put local businesses at a disadvantage because foreign dignitaries, lobbyists and government officials would rather do business in a business owned by the president.
The bar, which is north of R Street Northwest, is a mile and a half away from the hotel.
The hotel, which opened in October, includes one restaurant and one bar: BLT Prime by David Burke and the Benjamin Bar & Lounge. Because of the hotel’s notoriety, getting inside, even for a cocktail can prove difficult for locals.
Neverthless, Cork lawyer Scott Rome, said the Washington establishment feels “pressure” or an “obligation” to visit the hotel, its restaurants or bars to get on Trump’s good side.
Trump’s stances on social and fiscal issues are at odds with the owners of the bar, though Cork’s owners have said their legal action is about business, not politics. Pitts and Gross said they saw “significantly less income” following Trump’s inauguration than after previous inaugurations.
The couple opened their bar in January 2008. The only inaugurations it was open for was former President Barack Obama’s and Trump’s.
The suit focuses on a clause in the hotel’s lease agreement with the General Services Administration, which states that no elected official should have shares or benefit from a federal lease. However, the GSA ruled in March that the Trump Organization is in “full compliance” with the lease.
The owners are not seeking restitution, but want the “unfair competition” to stop.
The Washington Business Journal reported that the wine bar will close by the end of the year and combine spaces with its market across the street. Gross told the Washingtonian that was not true.
