WASHINGTON (NYTIMES) - Revenues were mixed in 2018 at some of US President Donald Trump's most recognisable properties - from Mar-a-Lago to the Trump International Hotel in Washington - at a time when the Trump family faced a barrage of scrutiny from government investigators, according to a financial disclosure form released on Thursday (May 16).
The president's Washington hotel, a favoured spot for Republicans and lobbyists, took in US$40.8 million (S$55.01 million), up slightly from what it reported in 2017.
At the same time, his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, where Trump regularly travels during the winter months, saw revenues of US$22.7 million, down nearly 10 per cent from last year's filing.
The filing, which totals 88 pages and covers the 2018 calendar year, offers a fresh but limited view into how Trump's businesses are faring. In 2017, he reported revenues of US$453 million and assets worth at least US$1.4 billion. A full tally of 2018 revenues from Trump's more than 100 business operations was not immediately available.
The disclosure made public on Thursday was the fifth that Trump has filed since declaring his candidacy for president in 2015.
With his refusal to make his tax returns public, the annual disclosure offers an accounting of his assets, investments and debt related to his private business ventures.
It shows that business at 20 of the highest-revenue-generating properties he operates declined by just more than 1 per cent in 2018, but certain individual properties showed modest revenue increases.
The disclosure is highly limited, as it does not show profits or losses, and assets are valued only in ranges, making it impossible to pinpoint Trump's precise net worth.
But the financial disclosure underscores how the president's business, the Trump Organization, has become a fundamentally different - and more modest - company than it was just a few years ago, when he spoke of a large pipeline of new deals even as he pledged to back away from any involvement in its management.
Since he took office, revenues at many of his largest properties have been largely flat, or have seen only modest increases. His name has been stripped from some buildings, and his company has shelved plans to start two new midrange hotel chains.
