Donald Trump is suing celebrity chef Jose Andres for $10 million after Andres backed out of the Trump International Hotel project in Washington, D.C., in the wake of the GOP presidential candidate’s comments on Mexican immigrants.
Andres recently scrapped plans to open a restaurant at the $200 million luxury hotel development in D.C., claiming that Trump’s comments labeling Mexican immigrants as criminals and rapists made it “impossible” to partake in the project.
But the Trump Organization fired back by filing a suit Friday, according to the New York Daily News, citing damages and lost rent.
“[Andres] has to pay rent for the next 10 years,” Trump spokesperson Alan Garten told Politico. “You don’t get to sign an agreement that you’re going to pay rent for the next 10 years and just walk away.”
Trump’s views on immigration have received much criticism since he kicked off his presidential campaign in June. Food Network chef Geoffrey Zakarian also left the hotel project last month, forfeiting his $500,000 deposit in the process.
“We are a nation built from immigrants, my family included,” Zakarian said in a statement. [NYDN] – Rey Mashayekhi