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With many looking to escape the unfathomable horror that is Donald Trump becoming President of the United States, many Americans are looking to move to Canada. In case you needed another reason to love the land of maple syrup, poutine, and free healthcare, you’ll be happy to hear that Toronto Trump Tower owners share a similar distaste of The Donald and are looking to sell off the downtown hotel.Trump himself doesn’t own the Toronto tower anymore, instead it’s owned by a company called Talon Developments, who licensed the Trump brand and hired a Trump-owned company to run the establishment.Symon Zucker is the company’s lawyer, who told the Toronto Star that they are “no longer interested in the Trump brand” because they feel that Trump himself is diminishing the brand’s reputation. According to Zucker, ‘It’s more important for him to be president than run a successful business.’The business mogul made various appearances in Toronto during the early stages of the hotel’s takeoff, but despite his efforts, business still seemed to struggle. Back in 2012 Trump met with then Toronto mayor, Rob Ford, for the grand opening of the hotel.TorontoZucker went on to say, ‘At this point, the unit owners, the vast majority of which support Trump’s management of the building, have had enough.’The 65-story hotel was only at 50 percent occupancy a year after it had opened, which posed a problem for investors who had bought rooms in the hotel hoping to see a return on their investments.According to The Globe and Mail, the Trump International Hotel & Tower Toronto faces a serious possibility of being sold to a new owner after it failed to pay back a $260-million construction loan.In February Trump told Bloomberg the Toronto hotel is a “tremendous success.” ‘I don’t think there is a hotter brand in the world than the Trump brand.’Who knows how exactly The Donald defines “success,” but it seems like $260-million of debt and Talon Developments trying to escape from their contract isn’t considered the pinnacle of “success” to most.Trump’s lawyer, Alan Garten, communicated a similar sentiment: ‘The Trump brand is stronger than ever. Not just in Toronto but throughout Canada.’While he may say that, other people have different opinions. According to the Toronto Star, Trump hotel employees have been questioned in regards to Trump’s behavior and controversial comments he’s made along the campaign trail.Lisabeth Pimentel is the president of Unite Here Local 75, a union that represents some of the Trump Tower employees. She claims many “get a lot of questions from customers about Trump” and the things he says. Pimentel said, ‘We shouldn’t have to answer for his behavior.’Selling the tower would result in the removal of the Trump name from the tower, something many Canadians have already called for in light of Trump’s comments about Mexicans and Muslims entering the United States.Only time will tell, but it’s clear Trump’s bigotry is pissing off a lot of people. And this time, it just might end up losing him a lot of money.
In February Trump told Bloomberg the Toronto hotel is a “tremendous success.” ‘I don’t think there is a hotter brand in the world than the Trump brand.’Who knows how exactly The Donald defines “success,” but it seems like $260-million of debt and Talon Developments trying to escape from their contract isn’t considered the pinnacle of “success” to most.
