Trump Org. Settles Old Post Office Lawsuits With José Andrés, Geoffrey Zakarian
After two years of legal battles over failed DC restaurant deals, the Trump Organization has settled two lawsuits with celebrity chefs in the last four days.
The company announced settlements with José Andrés on Friday and Geoffrey Zakarian on Monday, the Washington Post reports. The details of the settlements were not released.
The pair of lawsuits came after the chefs backed out of deals to open restaurants in Trump's DC hotel in the Old Post Office building, citing Trump's inflammatory rhetoric involving Mexican immigrants while campaigning for president. In both situations, Trump filed a $10M breach of contract lawsuit and the chefs filed countersuits.
After the two chefs backed out, Trump signed BLT Prime and chef David Burke to open a restaurant in the hotel. In November, the hotel signed popular Japanese chef Daisuke Nakazawa to open a second restaurant. On multiple occasions since taking office, Trump has dined at the BLT Prime, giving the property he owns significant press coverage.
The settlement of these legal disputes comes after the resolution of another major issue involving the hotel last month, when the GSA determined that Trump's business arrangement did not violate the hotel's lease.
