New York City Decides to Terminate Contract with Trump-Owned Company... "Termination Due to Criminal Activity"

Two Ice Rinks, Carousel, Golf Course Scheduled for Contract Termination
New York Mayor: "Incitement to Insurrection, Clear Criminal Act"...Trump Side Reacts

New York Central Park Ice Skating Rink operated by the Trump Organization
[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] New York City has announced that it will terminate all contracts with the Trump Foundation, owned by President Donald Trump. This move is interpreted as a follow-up action after the U.S. House of Representatives initiated impeachment proceedings against President Trump on charges of inciting the earlier Capitol riot. Although the Trump Foundation is strongly opposing this, companies that had maintained cooperative relationships with the foundation have also begun to turn their backs, leading to expectations of significant financial losses.

According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 13th (local time), New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio stated in an interview with MSNBC that "we plan to terminate business contracts with the Trump Foundation." The Trump Foundation has been operating two ice rinks, a carousel in Central Park, and a golf course in the Bronx area of New York through consignment operation contracts with the city.

Mayor de Blasio emphasized, "We are terminating the contract because President Trump incited violence against the U.S. Congress," adding, "Inciting insurrection is clearly a criminal act, and according to the contract terms, if the company leadership is involved in illegal activities, New York City has the right to terminate the contract." It is known that New York City plans to find a new consignment operator and sign a contract. The NYT reported that if the contract with New York City is terminated, the Trump Foundation is estimated to lose income worth $17 million (approximately 18.7 billion KRW).

The Trump Foundation is protesting. Amanda Miller, spokesperson for the Trump Foundation, stated, "This is a violation of the First Amendment, and New York City does not have the authority to do this," and criticized, "If enforced, New York will have to pay more than $30 million in damages."

However, as major partners of the Trump Foundation have also begun severing business ties one after another, the financial losses of the Trump Foundation are expected to grow. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), banks such as Deutsche Bank and New York Signature Bank, which had previously loaned $300 million to the Trump Foundation, have internally decided to close Trump accounts and cut off transactions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.