Jacob Fenston
The tallest building in downtown Washington, besides the Washington Monument, is a monument to another president: Donald J. Trump. Now, the gold letters on the Trump International Hotel could be removed for good: the Trump Organization is selling the hotel, and it will be rebranded as a Waldorf Astoria, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Trump won a 100-year lease on the building from the federal government in 2012, before the Trump name became toxic among liberals and many D.C. residents. At the time, Trump posed for photos with local officials — all Democrats — including Marion Barry.
Now Trump is reportedly selling the hotel lease for $375 million to CGI Merchant Group, a Miami-based investment company. The deal is reported to include an agreement with Hilton Worldwide Holdings to manage the property under its Waldorf Astoria brand, joining hotels in places such as Beverly Hills, Key West, Berlin and Beijing.
But in the years since Trump broke ground on the renovation of the Old Post Office Building, the hotel has become more than just a place to rent a room for the night: it was a gathering place for Republican lawmakers, lobbyists, and foreign emissaries seeking favor with the administration. It was a watering-hole for red-hat-wearing Trump supporters, in town for inauguration, a rally, or an attempted overthrow of American democracy.
The Trump Hotel is also at the heart of investigations into Trump’s conflicts of interest while president: the House Oversight Committee last month released documents showing various alleged violations. According to the committee, the hotel received $3.7 million in payments from foreign governments while Trump was in office — equivalent to roughly 7,400 nights at the luxury hotel — but did not properly disclose those payments or pay back the federal government as promised.
The hotel was also magnet for protestors, who used the building as an outlet for their rage. And for one local artist, the Trump Hotel’s elaborate facade was a canvas: Robin Bell’s anti-Trump projections on the building went viral on social media and garnered national headlines.
“It really makes me happy to know that his name is going to be removed from that building,” said Bell, reacting to the news of the sale, in an interview with DCist. His first projection on the building went up just weeks after the 2016 election. It read, “EXPERTS AGREE: TRUMP IS A PIG.” It was a reference, Bells says, to Reagan-era protests in D.C. Since then, Bell says he has projected between 50 and 100 messages on the Trump Hotel. “We kind of stopped counting after 50,” Bell says.
Bell says seeing the Trump name emblazoned on one of the most prominent buildings in the city skyline was an affront to the District, where more than 90% of voters voted against Trump. “For most people, when they would see the Trump Hotel and they’d see the name on it, it just created a visceral reaction.”
Some of Bell’s messages were serious — about the Trump administration’s policy of separating immigrant children from their families (“HAVE YOU HEARD THE CHILDREN CYRING ON THE BORDER”). Other messages were more playful, such as after Trump referred to Haiti and African nations as “shithole countries.” Bell projected “SHITHOLE” over the grand, arched entryway to the hotel, with animated poop emojis appearing to fly out the door.
Bell says he’s not done with his projections on the building. Perhaps just projecting the word “SOLD” over the doorway, or maybe, once a new operator takes over, “NEW MANAGEMENT.”
“I promised a few friends that we’d have a little projection dance party out there to celebrate the removal of the name, and the move towards a more positive future,” says Bell.
The Old Post Office was built between 1892 and 1899, to serve as both headquarters for the U.S. Post Office Department and the District’s local post office. Less than 30 years later, the building’s elaborate romanesque revival architecture, with 5-ft.-thick granite walls, was out of vogue, and it was slated for demolition to make way for the new Federal Triangle development. Over the decades, the building faced possible destruction multiple times, saved from wrecking ball by a combination of budget shortfalls and preservationists. The building opened as a revamped luxury hotel in 2016.
The Trump Organization and CGI Merchant Group did not respond to requests for comment about the reported sale.
