abc-New York City will terminate business contracts with President Donald Trump after last week’s riot at the US Capitol, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced.
The Trump Organization is under city contract to operate the two ice rinks and a carousel in Central Park as well as a golf course in the Bronx and profits about $17 million a year from those sites, Mr de Blasio said on Wednesday.
“I’m here to announce that the city of New York is severing all contracts with the Trump Organization,” Mr de Blasio said.
An email seeking comment was sent on Wednesday to the Trump Organization.
Trump loses golf tournaments in blow to finances and ego
It is the latest example of how the January 6 breach by violent Trump supporters is hitting the Republican president’s business interests.
Amid accusations Mr Trump incited the mob, the PGA of America voted on Sunday to strip its namesake championship from Trump’s Bedminister, New Jersey, golf course next year and British Open organiser the R&A said that tournament will not be played at Trump property and previous Open host Turnberry in the “foreseeable future”.
“It has become clear that conducting the PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster would be detrimental to the PGA of America brand,” PGA of America President Jim Richerson said in a video announcing the decision.
Golf governing body the R&A followed suit on Monday with their own statement.
“We will not return until we are convinced that the focus will be on the championship, the players and the course itself and we do not believe that is achievable in the current circumstances,” R&A CEO Martin Slumbers said in a statement.
Turnberry, in South Ayrshire, Scotland, has hosted the Open Championship on four previous occasions, most recently in 2009. Trump bought the property in 2014.
A representative for the Trump Organization, which owns or operates more than a dozen golf courses around the world, said they were “incredibly disappointed” with the PGA of America’s decision.
“We have had a beautiful partnership with the PGA of America … This is a breach of a binding contract and they have no right to terminate the agreement,” the representative said.
“As an organisation we have invested many millions of dollars in the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump National Golf Club, Bedminster.”
Bob Dorfman, a sports marketing expert at Baker Street Advertising in San Francisco, said the latest decisions by the PGA of America and R&A would indeed hurt Mr Trump, whose golf courses are the jewels in his self-branded business empire.
“First, it’s a financial blow: hosting a major brings in significant revenue and valuable media exposure to a course, making it a more desirable and prestigious destination for golfers,” Mr Dorfman told Reuters.
Banks abandon Trump Organization
Outside the world of golf, e-commerce company Shopify stopped helping run the online Trump Store and potentially most troubling, several banks have reportedly said they would no longer lend to Mr Trump’s company.
The reported moves by banks including one of his biggest lenders, Deutsche Bank, raises the prospect the President may have to dig into his own pockets to pay off his loans if he can not refinance.
Deutsche Bank has declined to comment on New York Times reports it has cut ties, however Reuters reported in November that the bank was looking for ways to end its relationship with Mr Trump after the US elections as it tired of the negative publicity stemming from the relationship.
Mr Trump’s loans with Deutsche are for a golf course in Miami and hotels in Washington and Chicago.
“We witnessed the President of the United States encouraging the rioters and refraining from calling in the National Guard to protect the Congress in its performance of duty,” said one bank that cut ties, New York’s Signature Bank, once so close to Mr Trump it put his daughter Ivanka on its board.
Limited data available for his private company suggests the Trump Organization’s golf properties, as well as other parts of his businesses, may be struggling.
Its two Scottish golf courses have been losing money for years, it had to furlough more than 1,000 workers last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, and prices of condos in Trump residential buildings have fallen sharply.
The company has also been unsuccessful in its plans to sell one of its most celebrated properties, the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC.
One person who does business with members at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster said several members are thinking of freezing their membership after the Capitol riots and that getting new members to join will be difficult.
“They don’t want to be publicly shamed for being a member of his golf club,” said the person, who requested anonymity because he does not want to lose his clients’ business.
“Do you think a guy who works for a financial firm or a drug company wants to see his picture in the paper?”
Mr Trump has also been banned, permanently or temporarily, from Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and a host of other social media networks.
