President Donald Trump’s income from his hotels, resorts, and golf clubs declined substantially last year, according to newly filed financial disclosure forms.
Trump brought in about $352 million last year from 30 companies that own or manage those properties, down from nearly $387 million in 2017. That included seven-figure drops in income at some iconic Trump resorts. His Mar-a-Lago club brought in about $2.5 million less than it did in 2017. Income from the Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles dropped by roughly $3 million. And the Trump Organization’s hotel management arm saw its income plummet by nearly $16 million, though its numbers for 2018 were more in line with those prior to Trump assuming the presidency.
Other Trump properties fared better. His Doral resort in Miami hiked its income by about $2.2 million in spite of internal concerns about declining residency reported by The Washington Post this week. Trump Turnberry, a golf resort in Scotland, saw income increase by $3 million. Trump’s hotel at Washington’s Old Post Office, just blocks from the White House, maintained an income of just over $40 million, second only to Doral in total income among the properties examined. And the company that manages Trump’s golf club in Dubai more than doubled its income, though it was still a small portion of the resort portfolio.
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Overall, though, the president’s hospitality business appears to have taken a hit last year. And it suggests that the divisiveness of his presidency is impacting his business empire.
All of Trump’s assets reside in a trust set up when he took office and managed by his two adult sons. The president claims that that setup insulates him from conflict of interest questions, but the structure of the trust allows him to draw profits from his business whenever he sees fit.
The arrangement has drawn intense criticism from good government groups, and Trump’s continued profiting from hotels and resorts patronized by foreign governments has led to multiple lawsuits alleging he has violated an anti-bribery provision of the U.S. Constitution.
Trump’s business portfolio is more expansive than the resorts, hotels and golf clubs that he owns. He also lists a variety of limited liability corporations from which he derives rent, interest, royalties, and condo sales. But income from those were often listed in broad ranges and rarely varied from prior years.
While the vast majority of the president’s income continues to come through real estate ventures of some form, he also maintains some less expected income streams. In 2018, for example, he brought in nearly $100,000 from a pair of pensions paid out by a pair of unions: the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.
The Trump Organization did not return a request for comment.
