A spokesperson for New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said that Trump’s role in the Capitol riots means he no longer has the privilege of doing business with the city.
The Trump Organization is continuing to push a lawsuit against New York, claiming the city made the illegal and politically motivated decision to terminate a lucrative golf course after the Capitol Riots on January 6th.
According to The New York Times, the lawsuit alleges that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s decision to end a 20-year contract for a Trump Organization golf course had no legitimate legal basis and was intended solely to punish former President Donald Trump for his role in the riots.
“Mayor de Blasio had a pre-existing, politically-based predisposition to terminate Trump-related contracts, and the city used the events of January 6, 2021, as a pretext to do so,” the lawsuit claims.
“After the City wasted hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayer money in its prior failed attempts to complete this project, we stepped in and, at the City’s request (much like Wollman Rink in the 1980s), invested over $30 million of our own money,” the Trump Organization said.
In a statement announcing the action, the Trump Organization said that its golf course was “widely recognized as
one of the most magnificent public golf experiences anywhere in the country.”
In response, though, de Blasio spokesman Bill Neidhardt said that the president’s own action—and lack thereof—has consequence.
“Donald Trump directly incited a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol,” Neidhardt said in a statement. “You do that, and you lose the privilege of doing business with the City of New York.”
The city’s Law Department has also made similar allegations, asserting that Trump’s role in the January 6th riots constituted a breach of contract which permits the city to cancel the golf contract.
“The actions of Mr. Trump to incite a deadly riot at the Capitol on January 6th caused a breach of the Ferry Point contract and we will vigorously defend the City’s decision to terminate the contract,” the New York City Law Department wrote. “The City properly followed the termination process detailed in the contract and we look forward to selecting a new vendor for Ferry Point that will further the best interests of New Yorkers.”
Golfweek observes that the Trump Organization’s lawsuit is very likely to be dismissed, since contract between New York City and the Trump Organization had a clause allowing it to be terminated “at-will”—although, as Golfweek points out, the Trump Organization’s attorneys have argued that an “at-will” termination should still “not be arbitrary or capricious.”
The Times notes that the lawsuit comes as the Manhattan district attorney’s office is continuing an unrelated criminal probe into Trump, who—alongside his associations—stands accused of committing financial fraud.
Trump, says the Times, may face criminal charges as early as this summer.
Sources
Trump is suing New York over a golf course. That could be a big mistake.
Trump Sues N.Y.C. for Ending Golf Course Contract After Capitol Riot
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