President Donald Trump's company made $1.97 million in profit at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. in the first four months of this year.
The Trump International Hotel has made $18 million in total, far exceeding expectations of the organization, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Trump Organization expected the hotel to lose $2 million in the first four months of 2017. Rates for the hotel are higher than nearby competition, and the Journal reports the hotel charges 60 percent higher than its budgeted prices.
"From January to April, the average daily room rate was $660.28 compared with $495.91 for comparable hotels, according to the documents," the Journal wrote.
However, the occupancy rate for the Trump hotel is low for the area. It has a 44 percent occupancy rate, as opposed to the 70 percent for comparable hotels.
The hotel is a few blocks away from the White House near the Washington Mall, and has now become a tourist attraction of its own since Trump became president.
In the first weeks of his presidency, Trump made an unexpected visit to the hotel for dinner one night. Since then, prominent political figures have been seen visiting and staying at the hotel, including members of Trump's Cabinet.
Critics of the president believe this is proof that Trump is profiting from the presidency. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D., Ore.) called the arrangement "highly unethical."
"What makes all of this particularly galling is that we now have the unprecedented situation where the president of the United States is both the landlord and tenant of a federal building," he said in a July statement.
Trump and the Trump Organization have denied any wrongdoing. Trump gave up control of the business and handed it over to his two oldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. Every month the hotel files a financial record to the General Services Administration. The records include financial numbers the company projected and the actual financial numbers.
The Trump Organization won a contract from the federal government to renovate the Old Post office and turn it into a hotel. It leases the space for $250,000/month.