President Trump's D.C. Hotel Is Making A Killing Despite High Vacancy Rate: Reports

WASHINGTON, DC — President Trump's D.C. hotel has surpassed all expectations and made a whopping $1.97 million in profit for the first four months of the year, according to reports from The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, despite initial projections that the branch would operate at a loss.

As the Post reported, Trump International Hotel's profits are 192 percent of what the Trump Organization expected it to rake in when it opened — before Trump was president. Guests pay an average $652.82 a night to stay there, making it one of the most expensive hotels in the nation's capital, the Post found. Initially, the hotel had expected to bring in $416 per night. (For more information on this and other political stories, subscribe to the White House Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

But these impressive profits are rolling in while the hotel is relatively empty. It reports a occupancy rate below 45 percent, despite the industry average of around 70 percent, according to the Post.

Walter Shaub, the former director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics who resigned in frustration over the current administration's behavior regarding conflicts of interest, criticized the president in light of the recent reports:

“We are very proud of the success of the project,” Eric Trump, the president's younger son and vice president at the Trump Organization, told the Post in an email. The White House did not immediately respond to a request from Patch for comment on this story.

A lawsuit accusing the president of violating the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution is working its way through the courts. According to critics, the president is violating the clause by accepting profits and payment from foreign governments and entities, some of whom are likely staying at Trump International Hotel. However, the hotel's filings do not show how much profit came from foreign sources.

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