
'Where is everyone?': Inside Trump's DC hotel post-presidency
CNN
A sprawling lobby and bar with only a handful of people. Confused guests asking where everybody went. Elegant, but empty hallways. These are the scenes CNN observed inside the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, this month as the once-humming destination confronts a new reality without its namesake in the White House.
The hotel had opened to much fanfare just months before former President Donald Trump took office, and quickly became a draw for Trump loyalists and insiders throughout his tenure. "I mean, we were very busy," Shawn Matijevich, the former executive chef at the hotel's steak restaurant, explained to CNN. "With so many every day, you know it almost got overwhelming at times -- how many VIP's and members of our government that you know are making headlines are all together in the same place."
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