Donald Trump denied a tax break to build new luxury hotel
NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 29: American business magnate and TV personality Donald Trump visits “FOX and Friends” at FOX Studios on August 29, 2011 in New York City.
Donald Trump asked District of Columbia officials for millions of dollars in tax breaks to develop the Old Post Office Pavilion into a new luxury hotel.
DC officials considered The Donald's proposal and said, um, no.
Trump and his daughter Ivanka Trump hoped the district would give them a multi-million dollar tax break to help with the redevelopment of the building, reports Politico.
But DC Mayor Vincent Gray and the city council were not all that interested in giving a substantial tax break to a man who claims to be worth $7 billion.
The mayor's spokesman Pedro Ribeiro told the Washington Post that it wouldn't be fair to give the Trumps a tax break when they won the contract to build the hotel in a competitive bidding process.
“It was never part of the bid proposal that the project would not be subject to the tax,” he said.
The Old Post Office building, completed in the 1890s, is owned by the federal government and will be leased to the Trump Organization, reports AP.
Trump plans to spend $200 million to turn the historic building into a 261-room luxury hotel, spa, three restaurants and a massive ballroom.