The Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C. opened to paying guests with a “soft opening” on September 12, 2016.[4] The hotel’s grand opening was celebrated on October 26, 2016.[164]
A December 2016 review in Vanity Fair described the hotel as grand on the outside, a complete disaster and “a frightful dump” on the inside.[165] In December 2016, Luxury Travel Intelligence reviewed the Trump Hotel and found major shortcomings in its service and operations. It called the decor “garish”, said that it was not suited to the discerning business traveler, and ranked it as the third worst hotel in the world.[166] On February 20, 2018, the hotel was named to the Forbes Travel Guide Five Star list for 2018 and later that year, it was named to Forbes’ inaugural World’s Most Luxurious Hotels list.[167][168] A Condé Nast Traveler article in May 2018 praised the restaurants and the service at the hotel.[169] On February 20, 2019, Forbes Travel Guide renewed the Five Star rating for 2019. The hotel has also achieved the number 1 rating on TripAdvisor.com for all Washington hotels.
After Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as President of the United States, the Trump International Hotel became the focus of legal controversy.[178] World leaders stated Trump was encouraging visiting emissaries to stay at Trump hotels.[179] Trump family members, such as Ivanka, profited from their stake in the hotel while Donald Trump was president.[180]
After he left office, the House Oversight Committee continued to investigate, publicly revealing in October 2021 that the Trump International Hotel had received about $3.7 million from foreign governments, potentially violating the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Additionally, according to the congressional committee, the hotel had a net loss of over $70 million during Trump’s presidency. To address this loss, another of Trump’s companies, DJT Holdings LLC, loaned over $27 million to the hotel, only a small portion of which the hotel repaid. Most of the loan was eventually converted to capital contributions.