Donald Trump's flagship Washington DC hotel 'loses more than a million dollars in its opening two months'

Donald Trump's flagship Washington DC hotel lost $1.1 million in its first two months, according to a letter from Democratic politicians that argues his new status as US president has breached the hotel's contract.

The 263-room luxury hotel opened in November 2016, in a century-old post office building which is part of the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site. The minimum nightly rate is $735, while one top-end suite was reportedly available for $500,000 during inauguration week.

There were protests when Mr Trump won the lease, given his track record of bankruptcies and his lack of experience in preserving or caring for historic buildings. Renovation works cost around $2m, and the Trump Organisation is believed to pay around $3m a year in rent.

Referring to his historic bankruptcies during a Republican presidential debate, Mr. Trump said: "I've done it four times out of hundreds, and I'm glad I did it. I used the laws of the country to my benefit."

But the new property has raised concerns among his political rivals about both his economic nous and his relationship with business law.

"President Trump's company reported losses totalling more than $1.1 million in those two months alone," the letter to the US General Services Administration reads, referring to the hotel's opening season in September and October.

The letter, which is signed by Democrat Representatives including the Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Chairman of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, notes this was a so-called "soft opening."

But it also shows the hotel's revenue was $1.5 million below its own projections for that period, chalking up huge losses instead of a relatively modest income.

And since being sworn in as president, Mr Trump may now be in violation of a provision that no federal official may rent the building, theoretically opening him to litigation.

This is the main focus of the letter, which cites the lease to the property: "No member or delegate to Congress, or elected official og the Government of the United States or the Government of the District of Columbia, shall be admitted to any share or part of this Lease, or to any benefit that may arise thereof."

The authors "have been raising concerns about this issue for months", and give a February deadline with a range of demands intended to hold the incumbent president to account over his tanking and potentially illegal business venture.

In response to these criticisms, Mr Trump handed control of his hospitality business to his sons, and the company took voluntary measures and said it would not enter into any international deals, promised to hire a compliance and ethics adviser to vet domestic deals, donate foreign profit from its hotels and refrain from doing anything that could be perceived as exploiting the presidency.

The hotel was the location of inauguration events such as a prayer breakfast, and played host to various members of Mr Trump's new cabinet, along with donors and foreign officials hoping to win the favour of the new President.

He has also been accused of making money from foreign diplomats who stayed in the hotel during the run-up to the inauguration, an apparent conflict of interest which seemingly violated the Emoluments Clause of the American Constitution.

Michelin-starred Spanish-American chef and philanthropist José Andrés was supposed to be providing catering for the hotel, but pulled out after Mr Trump disparaged Mexicans and immigrants during his electoral campaign, implying they were criminals, rapists and killers.