So, apparently there’s a new hot place to see and be seen in Washington, D.C. Sure, you may have to drink overpriced cocktails and eat sliders like you’re perpetually stuck in 2004 but what matters is the name outside the building. And what would you know? It’s the same as the name of the new president-elect.
Foreign diplomats are used to currying favor any way they can, and they know full well that a stay at Donald Trump’s newest hotel can help with one of the most awkward tasks of diplomacy: small talk. “Why wouldn’t I stay at his hotel blocks from the White House, so I can tell the new president, ‘I love your new hotel!’ Isn’t it rude to come to his city and say, ‘I am staying at your competitor?’” one Asian diplomat tells the Washington Post.
The hotel itself is working hard to woo diplomatic business, hiring someone as the “director of diplomatic sales.” Sure, that’s hardly unheard of in Washington, but there’s only one that has the president-elect’s name on the front door.
Wait, isn’t it against the rules for a president to use his position as leader of the free world to make money? Eh, not really. “The measures preventing other federal employees from profiting from their positions do not apply to the president,” notes the Post. Duly noted.
