Donald Trump Sits For Deposition in NYC As Part of DC Hotel Lawsuit

NEW YORK CITY — President-elect Donald Trump sat for an approximately one-hour deposition Thursday at Trump Tower in Manhattan in connection with a lawsuit he filed against celebrity chef José Andrés, Trump's attorney confirmed in a statement.

Trump sued Andres for breach of contract after Andres backed out of plans for a restaurant at Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C., which opened in August. Andres says he backed out because Trump made disparaging comments about Mexican immigrants during Trump's presidential campaign.

Trump is just the fifth sitting president or president-elect to face a deposition, joining Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and Ulysses Grant, according to Politico.

"The deposition was completed earlier today and lasted just over one hour as the case is fairly straightforward," Alan Garten, an attorney for the Trump Organization, said in a statement Thursday. "In short, the parties entered into a valid and enforceable lease, which the tenant clearly breached by walking out and failing to perform its obligations, thereby entitling the landlord to recover damages in the form of unpaid rent, cost of build out, lost profits and other expenses."

The statement did not confirm the exact location of the deposition. However, pool reporters camped out at Trump Tower did not see the president-elect step down from his gold-plated marble residence Thursday. A C-SPAN camera did capture Trump attorney Rebecca Woods entering the tower around 8:30 a.m. and leaving just before 11:30 a.m.

Two small businesses have also filed liens on the Trump hotel in Washington, saying they were stiffed out of millions of dollars for work they did on the property.

Trump's Washington hotel is just one of the many properties across the globe that Trump has at least some business interest in. They present myriad possibilities of conflict of interest or, at least in these cases, embarrassing legal situations.

He has made no indication that he will totally divest his business interests, the only option that ethics experts say will completely remove him from possible conflicts. A press conference in New York City to address these issues, scheduled for Dec. 15, was abruptly cancelled with no explanation. He said Tuesday that he will hold one on Jan. 11.

This story will be updated.

Image via Gage Skidmore, Flickr, used under Creative Commons