Despite what many perceive to be Trump’s best efforts of using his station as president to bolster the bottom line of his private sector businesses, reports continue to circulate that his controversial presidency has devastated business at his high-end namesake hotels.
With business down, Trump Hotels has announced a new low-end brand that exists as a paradox. Despite the claim that their new chain “has nothing to do with politics,” according to Donald Trump Jr., the name of the brand, “American Idea,” suggests otherwise.
The brand, of which little is known, will roll out in small towns in Mississippi, a far cry from the cosmopolitan locales Trump Hotels has sought to occupy in the past. According to The New York Times, this will be Trump’s most brazen licensing cash grab yet, as the chain is expected to be little more than existing motels and limited-service properties with rebranded “pro-America” signage adorning them.
Intuition would dictate, despite Trump Jr.’s comment, that the strategic rollout of a patriotically named, budget-minded hotel in America’s most Republican and conservative areas is very much a melding of politics and business, as well as a thinly veiled attempt by Trump to use the presidency to market his business.
Not only is the move being called out as another instance of Trump conflating his roles as civil servant and businessman, but the brand is also the subject of mockery because, well, it sounds really, really tacky.
Considering that the actual owners (Trump’s only the name on the sign for many of “his” hotels) of the luxury properties continue to smart from the anti-Trump backlash that has manifested itself in depressed business, the owners of these small town lodges may want to proceed with caution, as developments in the Russia scandal could turn even the most Republican hotel guests off of Trump and his brands.
