Trump’s Washington Hotel Adds Kosher Food To Attract Orthodox Customers
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, his wife Melania Trump and daughter Tiffany Trump cut the ribbon at the new Trump International Hotel October 26, 2016 in Washington, DC. The hotel, built inside the historic Old Post Office, has 263 luxury rooms, including the 6,300-square-foot ‘Trump Townhouse’ at $100,000 a night, with a five-night minimum. Image by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
By Aiden Pink August 26, 2019
The Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. has started a kosher menu in order to attract more Orthodox Jewish customers, The Jerusalem Post reported Saturday.
The meals will come pre-sealed from a kosher catering company in Maryland, the Post reported. Washington has long been known for its lack of kosher restaurant options — there’s only one other meat restaurant in the district — but the Trump hotel’s fare will be far more expensive than any competitors: $105-$125 for a main course.
“We had many guests from New York staying here that would come in for business meetings, and they wanted to get something to eat, but felt uncomfortable,” said the hotel’s managing director, Mickael Damelincourt.
A May 2019 poll from the Jewish Electorate Institute found that 57% of Orthodox Jews approve of President Trump, compared to 24% of non-Orthodox Jews.
The hotel, which is based in the Old Post Office on Pennsylvania Avenue just blocks from the White House, has been the subject of scrutiny due to allegations that lobbyists and foreign government officials choose to stay there in order to curry favor with the president. The hotel accounted for nearly $41 million in revenue for The Trump Organization in 2018, Trump declared in his 2018 financial disclosure forms.
This is not the first time a Trump property has accommodated kosher clients: The Trump Turnberry resort in Scotland was booked for a massive Passover resort package in 2018.
Aiden Pink is the deputy news editor of the Forward. Contact him at pink@forward.com or follow him on Twitter @aidenpink
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