The Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C., which opened in the historic Old Post Office Pavilion, is compliant with its lease with the U.S. General Services Administration despite President Donald Trump's ownership interest in the hotel, the GSA said on Thursday.
GSA contracting officer Kevin Terry confirmed in a letter to Trump that the Trump Organization is in "full compliance" with the lease for the 263-room hotel, which opened last September.
The Trump Organization's compliance was called into question after Trump was elected because of a GSA lease term which states that "no elected official of the Government of the United States or the Government of the District of Columbia shall be admitted to any share or part of this Lease, or to any benefit that may arise therefrom."
President Trump confirmed to the GSA last month that he transferred his financial interests in Trump Old Post Office LLC, which holds the Old Post Office lease, into a trust that receives no payments stemming from the lease. Those payments due to the trust are instead "credited to the unrecovered capital contribution account of DJT Holdings LLC," Terry said in his letter. Additionally, "President Trump is not an officer, director, manager, employee, or other official in any of the entities" that are listed to have a financial interest in Trump Old Post Office LLC.
Terry also noted that the property had been a "wasting asset" that "is now being put to productive use."
The GSA selected the Trump Organization in 2012 to redevelop the property into a luxury hotel. The Trump Organization possession of the site in May 2014, and have since been paying $3 million a year on its lease. Trump and his company's development partners have also invested about $200 million converting the property into the hotel.
The Trump Organization has a 60-year ground lease on the property, which was built in 1899.