New York City, U.S. President Donald Trump’s hometown, says it will cancel all contracts with his business organization because of the deadly insurrection by Trump supporters last week at the U.S. Capitol.
“The City of New York will not be associated with those unforgiveable acts in any shape, way or form,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday in a formal statement. De Blasio said he has begun the process of “severing all contracts” to operate a carousel and two ice rinks in Central Park that net Trump’s company about $17 million a year.
Trump’s son, Eric, denounced the move and said it would be challenged.
“Yet another example of Mayor de Blasio’s incompetence and blatant disregard for the facts,” he said. “The City of New York has no legal right to end our contracts and if they elect to proceed, they will owe the Trump Organization $30 million. This is nothing more than political discrimination and we plan to fight vigorously.”
De Blasio’s decision is the latest example of how the January 6 riot by Trump supporters is adversely affecting the president’s private business affairs. The announcement came three days after the Professional Golfers Association of America voted to move next year’s PGA Championship away from Trump’s New Jersey golf course.
Shopify previously took down online stores affiliated with the embattled president, while Twitter and other social media platforms disabled his accounts.
On January 6, Trump implored the thousands of supporters who had come to Washington for a “Save America March” to march on the U.S. Capitol building, as lawmakers began to formally certify President-elect Joe Biden’s November 3 election victory.
“You will have an illegitimate president. That is what you will have, and we can’t let that happen,” Trump told the rally. “We fight like hell, and if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”
Taking their cue from the president, thousands of Trump supporters walked to the Capitol, where many pushed past police barricades and forced their way inside. Six people died in the melee.
The Democrat-led House of Representatives is expected to approve one article of impeachment Wednesday charging the Republican president with inciting insurrection. The third-ranking Republican House member, Liz Cheney, is among a handful of Republican lawmakers who have said they will vote to impeach Trump.
If the House impeaches Trump, as expected, it would be the second time he has met that fate. Trump was first impeached in December 2019 on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of justice because of his efforts to persuade the newly elected president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to investigate Joe Biden and Biden’s son to strengthen his chances of reelection in the 2020 presidential race.
The Senate acquitted Trump of the charges in February 2020. It is not clear when the Senate might again put the president on trial.
