Donald Trump’s brand is so toxic, a major hotel has stopped licensing the “Trump” name
In the time since Donald Trump entered the world of politics with with a hateful and divisive message, the value of his brand in the business world has plummeted. In the time since he’s taken office and become the least popular incoming president in U.S. history, his brand has become even more toxic. The latest evidence: his name is being removed from a prominent hotel as we speak.
Donald Trump and his Trump Organization have long been managing the “Hotel” part of “Trump Hotel and Tower” in Toronto, but Trump has never had any ownership stake. Instead the property has merely been licensing his name for the five years it’s existed. But that’s finished now. According to the BBC (link), not only are the hotel’s owners removing the Trump Organization from the hotel’s management, they’re also removing the Trump name from the property entirely. And it’s far from the only such instance of the Trump brand name being toxic to hotel business.
The Trump SoHo hotel in Manhattan is suffering so badly under the weight of the Trump brand name, its nightly rates on Expedia are often hundreds of dollars below what what comparable hotels are fetching. In fact last month the hotel began laying off its staffers (link). This has come even as Robert De Niro’s nearby competing high end hotel has seen booming business (link), confirming that it really the toxic brand name that’s destroying the Trump SoHo.
In fact the only Trump-branded property that seems to be doing well is the newly opened Trump International Hotel in Washington DC, but only because Donald Trump has been illegally using his office to steer visitors from foreign governments toward staying at the property. Everyone from law professors, to the Attorneys General of Maryland and Washington DC, to the Democrats in Congress are currently suing Trump over this and other violations of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.
