The Daily Beast publishes my scoop on the Trump Hotel DC giving a sweetheart deal to a business ally of the president’s

Researching the Trump Hotel D.C. for my Condé Nast Traveler article, I came across a group rate for the hotel that seemed ridiculous low. I dug further, and the results were published today on The Daily Beast:

“Trump’s D.C. Hotel Gave a Sweetheart Rate to a Pro-Immigrant Worker Group”

‘Condé Nast Traveler’ publishes my deep dive into the Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C.

Today Condé Nast Traveler published my months-in-the-making 5,500-word article on the Trump International Hotel, Washington, D.C.

“Inside the World’s Most Controversial Hotel”

In New York City last spring, I met with Laura Redman, one of my editors at Condé Nast Traveler. In the magazine’s 33rd floor office in One World Trade Center with a brilliant view of Lower Manhattan, Laura asked what the buzz was travel-wise in D.C. My answer would’ve worked for just about any subject area though: Trump. Just a few months into the president’s term, the new Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C. had become a hot spot for like-minded political powerbrokers. And Trump’s ownership of it already had led to a watchdog group suing him for allegedly violating the Constitution’s emoluments clauses.

Also, Trump was engaged in two lawsuits with high-profile chefs who’d backed out of opening restaurants there after then-candidate Trump denigrated Mexicans on the campaign trail. While I’d covered the hotel’s opening for Fox News, I wanted to delve into those issues and research other ones that hadn’t received as much media attention—including security and what is it like to actually stay there. You know, because it’s a hotel.

A lot happened between when the piece was assigned and today. I saw Trump in the hotel. And the D.C. and Maryland attorneys general sued over emoluments concerns. And about 200 Senators and Congressmen sued over emoluments concerns. And and and…with so many issues surrounding it, many that haven’t yet been fully detailed, the Trump Hotel D.C. could merit its own vertical (hint, hint assigning editors).

Thanks to everyone at Condé Nast Traveler who worked on the article, especially Pilar Guzmán, Laura Redman, Brad Rickman, and Alex Postman for their insightful edits, and Luke Zaleski and Carey Dunne for helpful queries and a thorough fact check. Thanks also to everyone who made time to speak with me or pass along tips for the piece.

And if 5,550 words isn’t enough for you on the doings at the Trump Hotel DC, follow me on Twitter: I’ve found

Muckrock notices what I’ve been working on recently

From Muckrock’s “FOIAing the Trump Administration: The difficult task of tracking how Trump is profiting from the presidency“:

An ongoing project by independent journalist Zach Everson shows how diligent effort can produce the granular information needed to make specific requests related to Trump’s profits. Everson combs social media for noteworthy visits to Trump International Hotel in DC and compiles them into a Twitter thread. So far, he has identified 86 instances of federal government employees visiting the hotel and filed FOIA requests to see if they used government funds.