Kate Bennett is a Reporter-Gossip Columnist.

Two months ago, Donald Trump was at least palatable. A silly, yet tolerable, mogul, he was, for what it’s worth, an icon of American excess, with his gold-plated penthouse, his TRUMP-emblazoned private jet, his expensive golf clubs, his spray-tanned beauty pageant contestants; he even had his own tag line, courtesy of prime-time TV.

But by Thursday afternoon Trump appeared to have jumped the shark of his own self-indulgence, thanks to his inflammatory comments about Mexican immigrants. And now the fallout might not hurt him only politically: Trump’s big plans for an over-the-top Washington hotel are also crumbling before his famously squinty eyes, along with the gilded name brand he he has spent so many years polishing. Abandoned by two celebrity chefs, José Andrés and Geoffrey Zakarian, who were supposed to be developing restaurants at his $200 million, Pennsylvania Avenue property, which is slated to open next year, Trump is now fighting with both for abruptly departing the Trump Organization ship, along with more than a dozen corporate sponsors and business partners.


On Wednesday, Andrés released a statement that he would be backing out of his plans to open a restaurant and provide catering services at Trump International in Washington, and on Thursday, Zakarian joined him in those sentiments. Both chefs cited Trump’s remarks demeaning illegal Mexican immigrants as the reason for the breakdown. “As a proud Spanish immigrant and recently naturalized American citizen myself, I believe that every human being deserves respect, regardless of immigration status,” said Andrés. Zakarian, who comes from a family of Armenian immigrants, echoed Andrés, “The recent statements surrounding Mexican immigrants by Donald Trump do not in any way align with my personal core values.”

Donald Trump, Jr. responded to Andrés’ departure Wednesday with a flurry of legal threats, stating the Trump Organization’s intent to sue should the popular Washington-based chef “default in the performance of his obligations under the lease.” The junior Trump went on to say he “will not hesitate” to “recover all unpaid rent for the entire 10 -ear term” of his agreement with the new hotel, slated to bow in 2016, and, should Andrés open a competing restaurant in the DC area, per an exclusivity agreement in the lease, Trump would go after Andrés financially as well.

As far as Zakarian’s departure, a spokesperson for the Trump Organization Thursday afternoon told POLITICO Magazine, “We know Geoffrey Zakarian very well and this decision has absolutely nothing to do with his ‘core values.’ Zakarian is using the distortions by the media of Mr. Trump’s comments in an opportunistic attempt to renege on clear and unequivocal obligations under his lease. Zakarian has put up a non-refundable $490,167 deposit and has fully guaranteed the lease. Construction at Trump International Hotel, Washington D.C. is under budget and ahead of schedule. Donald Trump is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to restore this national treasure and employing many hundreds of people in the process. Zakarian’s foolish decision will be his loss and will have no effect on the completion and success of this project.”

Trump is doubling down in other ways too, despite being declared persona non grata by the PGA, NBC, Univision and Macy’s department store. He only appeared to step up his anti-immigrant campaign when his Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump, retweeted the message: “#JebBush has to like the Mexican Illegals because of his wife.” He later told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that he hadn’t authorized that retweet, but added: “Do I regret it? No, I don’t regret it.”

In a way, Trump’s life work is now on the line. According to Gwenda Blair’s 2000 book The Trumps: Three Generations That Built an Empire, The Donald’s distinctive contribution to the Trump real-estate empire started by his father in low-income neighborhoods in Brooklyn was to move into Manhattan and figure out how to use his name to represent luxury— that way people would pay more, whether to buy an apartment in one of his buildings or to play at one of his golf courses. But in a viral age, it may not take long to unwind that hard-built image. “Controversy leaves a bad taste in the mouth,” says David Hagedorn, a former restaurateur and current chronicler of the Washington food scene. “I think you’d be hard-pressed to find someone right now who wants to touch this. But, who knows? Attention spans can be short and money talks.”