The Business of Dumping Trump

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The purpose of this sample essay from Ultius is to discuss the fallout and repercussions to the businesses owned by, and affiliated with Donald Trump, while campaigning for President. This sample essay will explore how some of the things Trump has said negatively impacted him professionally.

Dumping Trump: How It Started

As we digest the first presidential debate between Republican nominee Donald Trump, and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, some are still scratching their heads as to how Donald Trump even got this far in his campaign. Clinton is no stranger to politics. She was a former First Lady, Senator, and Secretary of State under President, Barack Obama. Trump, on the other hand is about as much a stranger to politics as anyone could've possibly imagined. In an unusual move to announce his candidacy for President of the United States in 2015, Drew Griffin of CNN reminds us that Donald Trump, added to his presidential announcement, a commentary on Mexicans. Trump strongly stated that,

They're [Mexico] sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with [to] us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people (Griffin).

Business Start to Dump Trump 

A national figure seeking to govern an entire nation making a comment like that, has drawn the ire of many in the Republican party. Many minorities also felt that it would not be long before Trump would cast his aspersions against them as well. Former President, Bill Clinton, likely capturing the perspective of many Democrats said, “I think we should let him burn himself out” (Kapsch). As a seasoned politician, Clinton, just short of saying, "let him use his own rope to hang himself", knew that things were not going to go well for the pugnacious businessman. However, we have just recently found out how badly things are going (Griffin). After the comment on Mexicans, a number of Trump’s business relationships ended. Fortune's John Chew highlights some of the business who terminated their affiliation with Trump.

• Macy’s department stores terminated its association with Trump’s clothing line which they had been carrying since 2004 
• Univision, the Spanish language broadcast television network severed their relationship with Trump on June 25th, despite having to pay him to do so 
• NBC Universal decided to cut ties with the presidential prospect, and will not air Miss USA or the Miss Universe Pageants. In addition, Trump’s business reality show, Celebrity Apprentice will no longer appear on their station 
• ESPN, and NASCAR, decided to move two important events from Trump properties, to non-Trump owned venues 
• The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) found a new venue to host their 2015 PGA Grand Slam of Golf, which was supposed to be held at Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, California 
• Jose Andres and Geoffrey Zakarian, internationally renowned celebrity chefs have both backed out of their agreements to open restaurants in the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC. 
• New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio roiled at the comments made by Trump about Mexicans, and vowed to review the City of New York’s contracts with the candidate, for any possible outs. They will likely not find a way out, but the Mayor assured that there will be no more business deals between the City and the entrepreneur.
• Apple Leisure Group, the largest mass market wholesaler of travel to Mexico for Americans, has removed all Trump hotels from its offerings. 
• In 2012, Wells Fargo & Company, Ford Motor Company, UPS, JPMorgan Chase & Co., David and Charles Koch, Motorola, Walgreens and Hewlett Packard Inc. were the sponsors at the 2012 Republican Convention in Tampa, but declined to sponsor the 2016 event. MetLife Inc., Coca-Cola, Microsoft and Apple joined in the boycott, as well (Kirkland)

Trump Threaten's Business Owners Who Terminated Contracts

Jose Andres and Geoffrey Zakarian, celebrity chefs who intended to team up with Trump at his hotel in Washington, but backed out due to his comments about immigrants, are embroiled in a lawsuit that Trump brought against them for breach of contract. In a comment to the press, Trump said:

In the event Mr. Andrés defaults in the performance of his obligations, we will not hesitate to take legal action to recover all unpaid rent for the entire 10-year term together with all attorneys' fees and additional damages we may sustain (Kirkland)

Andres responded to Trump’s suit on Twitter, “The moment you realize that you are being sued by a Presidential nominee....the moment I realize I'm a proud new American immigrant citizen!” (Kirkland). In an effort to keep the peace, Andres tried to make light of the situation. In another tweet, he continued, “@realDonaldTrump Immigrants make USA greater. Immigrants are proud of USA. Immigrants are the pride of USA. 99.9% of us, We are good people!” (Kirkland). Continuing to take the high ground, Andres stood up for his own heritage and the Hispanic people. 

Subsequently, Andres and Zakarian both counter sued (Kirkland). Jonathan O'Connell of the Washington Post reported that, despite not wanting to participate in the depositions, the judge ordered Trump to be deposed, essentially saying, if a lawsuit were to be filed by Trump, then Trump have to be willing to be deposed (O'Connell). On June 17, 2016, almost one year to the day Trump made his vitriolic statements on Mexicans, Andres’ lawyers deposed him in Washington, D.C. (Kirkland). The countersuits alleged that Trumps’ own comments would negatively impact their business. His comments would not only discourage customers from patronizing the restaurants, but would also affect their ability to hire employees to work at the restaurants.

Mexican workers often populate the kitchens of some of the busiest restaurants across the country. Andres and Zakarian feel that the backlash would not be limited to Hispanics, but also to non-Hispanics who also want nothing to do with a business that sustains a point of view of hatred and non-inclusiveness. One needs to not look much further from Trump's own political rallies to see the type of violence and bigotry that tends to follow Trump. Such controversy would not allow either restaurateur to succeed in the manner in which they normally do. Aside from the simple reason that few intelligent business people would want to have anything to do with such ugliness. Supporting this theory, Trump has only been able to fill the site with one additional restaurant, and has been unsuccessful at getting the second spot filled (Sidman).

Trump's Hotel Business in the Dumps

According to Hipmunk, a consumer based online travel booking and search engine company owned by Priceonomics, researchers have determined that bookings for Trump hotel properties have plummeted (Elliott). During the first quarter of 2016, according to Hipmunk statistics, Trump booking dropped by over 59% when compared to the quarter before. The second quarter reservations tumbled over 57%. When compared to the share of bookings during the same period in 2015, Trump’s reservations have significantly declined. Adam Goldstein, Hipmunk’s CEO, indicated that Hipmunk users tend to be “urban, millennial and professional” and most likely are not the kind of voter that would support Trump. (Elliott). He clarified that,

the decrease in the share of hotel bookings going to a Trump property indicates that this particular audience chose other accommodation options over the Trump brand at a higher rate than they did the year prior (Elliott).

Since Trump’s entrance into the presidential race, he has received an overwhelming amount of free publicity. Some estimate the value of this publicity at approximately $2 billion (Wolff-Mann). Although the expression "All press is good press", is often true, this does not seem to be the case for Trump.

Redfin, a real estate brokerage firm conducted a study and determined that condos that have Trump’s name on it, no longer get the market boost they once received (Elliott). The company found that prior to Trump’s campaign, his hotels received a premium, however, this premium disappeared in the first five months of 2016. While conducting this study, a Redfin economist stated that they made sure to compare Trump branded condominiums to comparable luxury condos, so that there was no conflict of topography (Elliott).

Despite all the negativity surrounding his campaign, Trump is holding steady with Clinton. Even with the recent news he used money from his charity, The Donald J. Trump Foundation to settle pending lawsuits as reported by Steve Elder of The New York Times. In a final insult to those who have contributed money, time or made an emotional investment into his campaign, an indifferent Trump said that if he fails to win the presidential campaign, he will simply go on a long vacation (Edelman). All of this begs the question, is this the man we want leading our great nation?

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Works Cited

Chew, Jonathan. "Here are all the brands that have cut ties with Donald Trump." Fortune. Time, Inc. 2 July 2015. Web. 16 August 2016. 

Cogswell, David. "Apple Leisure Group Cuts Ties with Trump Hotels." Travel Pulse. TravAllegienceMedia. 14 July 2015.  Web. 16 August 2016. 

Edelman, Adam. "Donald Trump suggests he doesn’t care much whether he wins in November: ‘At the end, it’s either going to work or I’m going to have a very, very nice long vacation’ " New York Daily News. NYDailyNews.com. 11 August 2016. Web. 16 August 2016.

Elliott, Christopher. "How Trump's Divisive Campaign Is Hurting His Hotel Business." Fortune. Time, Inc. 1 August 2016. Web. 16 August 2016. 

Gay, Mara. "New York Mayor Bill de Blasio: No More Business Deals Between City and Trump." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Co. 20 July 2015. Web. 16 August 2016. 

Griffin, Drew. "Trump deposition: Business backlash and Ivanka's clarification." CNN. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.  16 August 2016.  Web. 16 August 2016. 

Kapsch, Joseph. "Bill Clinton on Donald Trump’s Campaign: ‘Let Him Burn Himself Out’." The Wrap. 29 August 2015. Web. 16 August 2016.

Kirkland, Allegra. "All These Companies are Skipping Out on Trump's GOP Convention in Cleveland." TPM. TPM Media, LLC. 17 June 2016. Web 16 August 2016. 

Marsh, Rene. "FAA renames 'Trump' navigation points." CNN. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. 9 July 2015. Web. 16 August 2016. 

O'Connell, Jonathan. "Donald Trump, José Andrés and the death of a grand Washington restaurant." The Washington Post. Nash Holdings LLC. 29 April 2016. Web. 16 August 2016. 

Santucci, John. "The Companies That Have Dumped Donald Trump." ABC News. ABC News Internet Ventures. Yahoo! - ABC News Network. 4 July 2015. Web. 16 August 2016. 

Sidman, Jessica. "Trump Says His DC Hotel Couldn’t Make a Deal For a Second Restaurant." Washingtonian. Washingtonian Media, Inc. 16 August 2016. Web. 16 August 2016. 

Tinoco, Amanda. "Everyone Hates Donald Trump: 18 People, Companies Who've Dumped Him Over Racist Comments." 2 July 2015. Web. 16 August 2016.  

Wolff-Mann, Ethan. "Hotel Bookings at Donald Trump’s Hotels Are Way Down." Time.com. Time, Inc. 26 May 2016. Web. 16 August 2016. 

Elder, Steve. "Donald Trump Used Over $250,000 From Charity for Business Disputes, Report Says" The New York Times. Web. 20 Sept. 2016.