Republicans and foreign nations may be spending big at Donald Trump’s properties, looking to suck up to a man whose need to be sucked up to is unquenchable. Trump may be profiting from his own campaign and the Secret Service’s mission to protect him. But the overall picture for the Trump Organization is not looking so good:
“He can be very polarizing. ... The brand has been diminished,” says Jeff Lotman, CEO of licensing firm Global Icons. New York brand consultant Robert Passikoff puts it more bluntly: “The Trump brand has lost its mojo.”
While Manhattan condo prices have risen 29 percent since Trump took office, prices have fallen by nine percent in Trump’s Manhattan properties. And ouch:
CityRealty consultant Zach Gutierrez says Trump buildings are suffering partly because they look dated next to all the new luxury buildings that have gone up in recent years. But he adds that it doesn’t help that some apartment hunters won’t even consider a Trump building now.
The overseas picture is not great either, with resorts in Scotland and Ireland continuing to hemorrhage money. And while Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club is among those being propped up by political spending, ”Revenue from his Doral golf resort in Miami, which generates the bulk of Trump’s golf revenue, is estimated by Forbes magazine to have plunged 26 percent last year.”
Trump is still extremely wealthy, if not as wealthy as he would claim. But watching his businesses suffer must be almost as painful for him as looking at his abysmal poll numbers—and a lot harder to pretend isn’t real. So take that thought as one little piece of holiday-season joy.