New York City, Cushman & Wakefield Cancel Contracts With The Trump Organization
A week after President Donald Trump’s supporters violently stormed the U.S. Capitol, his business is losing partners and contracts as it reels from the fallout.
Cushman & Wakefield, which has represented The Trump Organization in leasing its signature office properties, Trump Tower and 40 Wall St., will cut ties with the company, a spokesperson for the brokerage firm confirmed to Bisnow. The Washington Post first reported the split Tuesday.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday the New York City can legally exit all business commitments with the organization, too, because of Trump’s statements hours before the deadly event.
The city’s agreements with the president’s family business include contracts to operate the Central Park Carousel, the Ferry Point Golf Course in the Bronx, and the Wollman and Lasker skating rinks. The Trump Organization rakes in about $17M yearly from these city contracts, according to de Blasio.
“If the leadership of [a] company is engaged in criminal activity, we have the right to sever the contract,” de Blasio said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program Wednesday. “Inciting an insurrection — let’s be clear and use these words — inciting an insurrection against the United States government clearly constitutes criminal activity.”
Among other things, the president called on his supporters to “fight much harder” and “show strength” to overturn the results of November’s presidential election in a Jan. 6 speech.
As of Wednesday morning, a Cushman & Wakefield broker was listed as the leasing agent for 40 Wall St. on the building’s website. The brokerage still advertised a listing for office space at Trump Tower on its website. The Trump Organization didn't respond to Bisnow’s requests for comment.
Last week, JLL said it would no longer market The Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C., for sale in light of the events. A spokesperson for JLL confirmed it dropped the hotel as a client — it had been contracted to sell the hotel in 2019 — but declined to comment further.
Earlier this week, New York City lender Signature Bank announced it would stop doing business with Trump and any other lawmakers who voted against confirming the results of the election. Deutsche Bank, Trump’s primary lender to which he has personally guaranteed more than $300M in loans, said it wouldn't do any further business with the company as well.
A bipartisan group of House members is expected to vote to impeach the president for “incitement of an insurrection” Wednesday. Never before has a U.S. president been impeached twice. In order to remove the president from office, two-thirds of the Senate will need to vote to do so.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday afternoon he would not reconvene the Senate to take up the impeachment, making it a near-certainty that Trump will remain in office until the end of his term on Jan. 20.
