One of President Donald Trump’s golf clubs has a major pest control problem — literally.
“When a Loudoun County health official visited the Trump National Golf Club Washington D.C.’s restaurant last month, the inspector spotted some invaders,” reported by NOTUS’ Dave Levinthal on Monday. Levinthal proceeded to describe a health inspector report chronicling “large quantity of small flies” at a storage room near the employee restrooms, as well as a number of health issues.
The potential hygiene hazards included “several food items stored at a temperature above the required 41 degrees Fahrenheit minimum. That included the blue cheese (54 degrees), sausage links (51 degrees), sausage patties (49 degrees) and pasta (49 degrees).” The report also noted that the grill’s employees improperly stored “raw steak, fish and burgers above ready-to-eat foods such as tortillas and sauces.” The snack bar also created a potential health risk, as “the health official deemed the sink’s chemical sanitizer solution exceeded regulations for maximum strength level.”
This incident is part of a larger pattern with Trump’s various construction projects.
“Two other Trump-owned clubs, Trump National Golf Club Westchester and Trump National Golf Club Hudson Valley, both in New York, received recent health citations earlier this year,” Levinthal wrote. “In Illinois, the Trump International Hotel in Chicago also found itself bedeviled by flies, among other health issues, NOTUS reported in March.”
When confronted with accusations of sub-par work at his various businesses and renovation projects, Trump has a history of trying to blame the people who point them out. He is waging prosecutions widely regarded as frivolous against individuals who he, without evidence, has accused of sabotaging his attempt to renovate the Reflecting Pool. The president argued that vandals had slashed a “350-foot gash” into the project when in fact the pool was recently drained and no such gash appeared. The pool, which is supposed to reflect people’s images, has instead turned green while algae blooms proliferate there.
Trump has been accused of giving projects to cronies through no-bid contracts instead of finding the highest quality service for the lowest bidder.
“Those looking for a simple phrase to help summarize Donald Trump’s second term could do worse than ‘no-bid contract.’ Indeed, it has been difficult to keep up on all of the assorted projects championed by the president that have bypassed the normal bidding process the federal government has relied on for many years,” MS NOW analyst Steve Benen wrote in June.
He added, “Reflecting Pool renovations? No-bid contract. Applying gold-toned coating to horse statues by the Lincoln Memorial? No-bid contract. Repairing ornamental fountains in Lafayette Park? No-bid contract.”