The Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC
(Picture: Getty Images)On a Friday night in the last month of summer, you’d think that hotels – not least in Washington DC – would be fairly busy ahead of the weekend.
Yet that wasn’t the case for Trump International Hotel in the state, with researcher Robert Maguire revealing on Twitter that the giant lobby of the golden building was completely empty.
“The cavernous, empty lobby of Trump’s DC hotel at 8pm on a Friday night.
“It’s almost like people were using the president’s hotel as a way to put money in his pocket to curry flavour with him and his administration, and now that he’s no longer president, there’s no reason to go there,” he tweeted.
The scenes came a day after Forbes reporter Zach Everson revealed he had been ejected and ‘permanently banned’ from the hotel because he was “taking photos without permission”.
Everson argued that “the real reason … probably wasn’t the photos though”, with the journalist reporting on the DC building for five years.
In February, it was reported that room prices at the DC hotel had almost doubled, ranging between $1,331 (£969) and $2,266 (£1,650) per night for a booking on 3 and 4 March – dates which were significant to supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory, who believed Trump would become president again on 4 March.
However, a week before and after 4 March, the rooms returned to $476 per night.
A few months later, The Washington Post said that a firm had been hired to sell the hotel, after it was put on sale in 2019 but pulled off the market due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Twitter users have since mocked the Trump hotel’s apparent lack of success, with some suggesting the images may be because the Republican is no longer in the White House:
Segway, and here's his fucking wall pic.twitter.com/N6xwxPjcuF
— Kat (@khamilton756) August 28, 2021
Is that supposed to be a classy joint? It looks like a 30 year old $59/night hotel in Oklahoma, but with a chandelier.
— Jeff Droz (@solarjedimaster) August 28, 2021
That's it. You're banned for life, too.
— S.V. Dáte (@svdate) August 28, 2021
"There are HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE in that Trump Hotel Lobby, believe me! They're all RIGHT BEHIND THE CAMERA, but the Fake News won't show them!"
— Twice-Impeached, One-Term Trumpy (parody) (@outofcontroljb) August 28, 2021
It’s a beautiful lobby. Perfect. Best lobby, everyone tells me.
— Kevin C. Smith (@KevinCStx) August 28, 2021
Looking forward to the day when this is known simply as The Old Post Office once again.
— Christopher Lockett (@HeyLockett) August 28, 2021
He really took social distancing to the extreme.
— D Villella ❄️ (@dvillella) August 28, 2021
At least you won't catch COVID there.
That interesting: room rates were high this weekend.
— Zach Everson (@Z_Everson) August 28, 2021
Almost like the owner of the place no longer has any favors to offer.
— ClearingTheFog (@clearing_fog) August 28, 2021
It was packed when Trump was in office.
— Michael J. Stern (@MichaelJStern1) August 28, 2021
Gee, it's almost like people were paying lots of money to Trump's business to get access to the president.
Now that there's no need for favor seekers to pay tribute to Donald, there's no reason to go to his hotel. https://t.co/6rA8N81r1X
— David Cay Johnston (@DavidCayJ) August 28, 2021
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy https://t.co/KwMvYWPpeO
— Joan Esposito (@JoanEspositoCHI) August 28, 2021
Others, meanwhile, wondered if the seemingly empty rooms in the hotel could be used by Afghan refugees:
Rooms for refugees! Since he planned the withdrawal I’m sure he’d be happy to provide a safe place for them to stay. He’s worth billions, so he says, so he can afford to donate the space.
— Kim D (@KimD2442) August 28, 2021
Clearing it out for Afghan refugees?
— Sam Litzinger (@SamLitzinger) August 28, 2021
I bet a lot of Afghani refugees could stay there, since it’s empty.
— Stuck/Like/Chuck (@stuck_like) August 28, 2021
If he did, it would certainly be a rare occasion where Trump did something actually useful…
