this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2024
189 points (98.5% liked)

News

23303 readers
5507 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Miami-based CGI purchased the lease rights from the Trumps for $375 million

As Donald Trump’s real-estate empire comes under pressure from a $355 million civil-fraud verdict, one of its most recent sales looks particularly well timed.

The Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., was a favorite Republican meeting spot during the Trump presidency, attracting lobbyists, lawmakers and others with business before the administration. After the Trumps faced criticism that they were flouting government-ethics laws by profiting from the property, they put up for sale the long-term lease rights for the hotel in the former Old Post Office.

In 2022, the Trumps sold those rights to Miami-based investor CGI Merchant Group for $375 million—a price that was tens of millions of dollars more than the other offers, according to people familiar with the matter. CGI rebranded the hotel as a Waldorf Astoria.

This month, the new owner defaulted on a $285 million loan related to the property, according to people familiar with the matter. The missed payments on that loan reflect higher interest rates and the above-market price the firm paid the Trumps, industry executives say.

Non-paywall link

top 27 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] mozz@mbin.grits.dev 101 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (4 children)

I get that if you're a respectable newspaper you can't just put a footnote: (*) because it was money laundering

But it's weird that say the whole thing with a straight face while standing so specifically placed so they're blocking the writing on the wall that says "MONEY LAUNDERING"

[–] athos77@kbin.social 30 points 8 months ago (1 children)

because it was money laundering

I prefer to think of it as a bribe.

[–] mozz@mbin.grits.dev 10 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I thought about investing the effort to construct a Drake meme, captioned with "overpaying for real estate" "campaign contributions" "consulting fee" "fuck it here's a briefcase full of cash" with all of them set to the "accepting" Drake. But I lost my motivation before I accomplished it.

[–] Baahb@lemmy.world 11 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

You should go back and make the effort, don't let your dreams stay dreams

[–] cybervseas@lemmy.world 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Don't let your memes stay dreams

[–] msage@programming.dev 1 points 8 months ago

In case of Drakes... yeah, keep those in dreams.

[–] AbidanYre@lemmy.world 17 points 8 months ago

if you're a respectable newspaper

WSJ hasn't met the criteria for that in a while. At least since Rupert bought it.

[–] Wrench@lemmy.world 11 points 8 months ago (1 children)

That's weird. And here I thought that stating the facts without a narrative was good reporting.

I cane to the conclusion of "oh, so probably a bribe, then" from the facts. Until someone actually accuses them of crimes, it's best for the news to just highlight suspicious circumstances.

[–] neptune@dmv.social 6 points 8 months ago

I think they did choose a narrative. "Prescient" is a narrative.

"Hotel formerly owner by former president now goes bankrupt" would be the more factual reporting.

[–] Spitzspot@lemmings.world 37 points 8 months ago (3 children)

That Trump stink hangs around awhile.

[–] Son_of_dad@lemmy.world 11 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It's the adult diapers. I worked at a nursing home so I know exactly what Trump smells like

[–] empty04@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Verified, as per Kinzinger: ”take armpits, ketchup, a butt, and makeup, and put that … in a blender”

[–] Jesusaurus@lemmy.world 10 points 8 months ago

No matter how hard you try, you just can't seem to get it out of the carpets.

[–] Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world 7 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)

They did have to have a week of cleaning and disinfecting done when Trump left the White House.

And while we want to believe it's because of Covid, we all know it's because Dirty Donnie and his Diapers.

https://www.newsweek.com/white-house-disinfected-after-trump-exit-1553725

[–] sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz 1 points 8 months ago

The security sweep must have been intensive.

[–] Jakdracula@lemmy.world 26 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago) (1 children)
[–] cm0002@lemmy.world 13 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Woo! 10/10 on the true false game! Lmao

[–] fraksken@infosec.pub 1 points 8 months ago

9/10. I dropped the ball on height and weight. I wasn't thinking straight...

[–] Zaktor@sopuli.xyz 20 points 8 months ago

"Corruption machine stops generating money when it's no longer a corruption machine."

[–] RagingRobot@lemmy.world 13 points 8 months ago (2 children)
[–] orclev@lemmy.world 25 points 8 months ago

Fred Trump made his money as a NY slum lord, which isn't technically illegal even if it's scummy as hell. What was illegal though was all the tax fraud and embezzlement he committed along the way. Dude practically wrote the book on tax fraud and exploiting tax loopholes. Taught every dirty trick he knew to his kids. His daughter was a crooked judge who stepped down rather than being disbarred for, wait for it, fraudulent tax and financial transactions. Donald on the other hand was the dumber of the two, he learned all the lessons on grifting and financial crime, but never really picked up his dads business savvy that let him actually make money. Donald has just been chewing through everything Fred left him on one failed business venture after another. If the Russian mafia hadn't bailed him out in the 90s he would have been completely broke by this point.

[–] Brokkr@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago

No the rapists, or rather the rape supporting family.

[–] workerONE@lemmy.world 9 points 8 months ago (1 children)

What are lease rights? They don't own it but are entitled to collect rent for a certain amount of time?

[–] cybervseas@lemmy.world 7 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Lease rights because the building is probably still federal, but the lessee is allowed to operate a hotel and generate revenue from the property.

[–] workerONE@lemmy.world 6 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Looks to be like that- Trump was awarded the lease in 2012 from the General Services Administration which manages federal land. He got the lease by agreeing to invest $200 million into the property, still seems weird someone is going to pay a lease and they're going to separately pay the previous leasee (Trump) for the right to the lease.

[–] workerONE@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

It's probably a commercial lease that they can sub lease or something like that