It is the last call at the bar of the Trump International Hotel in Washington.
The hotel, which served as Trump's dining-out spot, a gathering place for his allies and a bazaar of sorts for those seeking influence and access, is slated to be built.
Even though it opened a few weeks before Mr. Trump's election, historians agree that it was unlike any other venue owned by an American president.
The lobby was turned into a gathering spot for Mr. Trump, his cabinet, Republicans in Congress, foreign dignitaries, religious conservatives and Trump fans from across the United States. The venue received millions of dollars in direct payments from Mr. Trump's family and his own inaugural committee.
The hotel is being sold to a Miami-based investment firm for $375 million, which will deliver an estimated profit of more than $100 million to the Trump family, even after it pays off its debts and accounts for other money spent on the hotel since it opened. The sale is expected to close by the end of the month, according to an executive involved in the transaction.
The General Services Administration, the federal government's landlord, approved the transfer of the lease after it was confirmed that the two companies that control the brand have the financial capacity to own and manage the hotel.
Details of the hotel's plans were not provided by the company. In a statement, the company said that it continues to recognize the opportunity for growth in the nation's capital and hopes to have more to share soon.
The building is owned by the federal government. The Old Post Office Building is the third tallest building in Washington and was home to the United States Postal Service until 1934.
Lobbying disclosures show that Saudi Arabia spent $190,000 on a block of rooms at the hotel before Mr. Trump was inaugurated, as well as $78,000 for meals and beverages.
Soon enough, foreign business and government groups from countries such as Kuwait, Turkey, and Azerbaijan, as well as representatives from at least 33 nations, will come to the hotel to host events, with the help of a journalist who created an online newsletter tracking social media posts from the hotel.
Lobby regulars included Mr. Trump's one-time campaign manager, as well as the sisters Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson.
Jon Meacham, a presidential historian, said that never before had there been a venue like the Trump hotel, where supporters of the sitting president could pay tribute to him by frequenting a business he owned a few blocks from the White House.
He tried to find any other time that Washington had a similar kind of gathering place.
The lobby became a major venue for fund-raisers for the Republican National Committee and Mr. Trump's own political committees, as well as dozens of other Republican candidates.
The hotel was America's lobby of corruption, according to a political consultant who worked on Mr. Trump's campaign.
Eric Trump, an executive vice president at the Trump Organization, has repeatedly pointed out that the hotel donated to the U.S. Treasury any profits collected as a result of stays by foreign government officials at the hotel, and took other steps to avoid ethics questions.
In an interview this week, Eric Trump said he couldn't discuss the sale. He said he was proud of the work that the Trump family did after they leased a rundown federal building and turned it into a beautiful public space. Extra money was spent to preserve architectural details like the original oak doors, the fireplace in the former postmaster general's office, and the steel frame in the hotel lobby that used to hold a glass ceiling.
The first steel-frame building in Washington when it opened in 1899 was dirty and decrepit when Mr. Trump and his family first saw it. You can find something wonderful. We did.
There are a lot of inquiries. There have been many investigations into Donald Trump's businesses and personal affairs since he left office. Here is a list of those ongoing.
The trail of ethics abuses was the most important legacy of the hotel, according to various Washington government accountability groups. The group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington counted at least 1,320 conflicts of interest at the hotel during Mr. Trump's four years in office. The American Petroleum Institute had set up White House meetings at the same time it held events at the hotel.
Attorneys general in Maryland and the District of Columbia filed lawsuits against Mr. Trump for violating the Constitution by spending money at the hotel. The Supreme Court decided that the cases were over when Mr. Trump left the White House.
The Trump hotel in Washington will be the fifth hotel to lose its Trump brand since the beginning of the year, leaving the family with just five major hotels in the United States.
The Washington hotel revenue ranged from 15 million to more than 40 million from 2016 to 2020, with room rates averaging $500 a night. The first three years of Mr. Trump's tenure, the hotel had a large share of its revenue from food and beverage sales.
The Trump family took out a $170 million loan fromDeutsche Bank to finance renovations to the building. After the sale was announced, House investigators estimated that the family would make a profit of about $100 million even after the loan is paid off.
The decline in business at the hotel was caused by the Pandemic and Mr. Trump's departure from the White House.
The Benjamin Bar and Lounge at the hotel had high-end items such as a one-pound lobster, eight oysters, four clams and shrimp, but they were no longer on the menu. The main restaurant and the spa of the Trump family will likely close soon, as well as the boutique of the Italian suit maker that Mr. Trump frequented.
Conservative political activists and lobbyists stay at the hotel. A group of pork farmers and producers who were in Washington to lobby Congress sat across from a group of Republican women.
Out-of-town tourists who wanted to see the hotel before the Trump name is ripped from the facade were in the lobby.
Suzanne McCafferty, a Trump supporter visiting from Nashville, joked that the name of the character of Moses should be removed from the pylons.
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