New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) has revealed that his city will be cutting off all business ties with the Trump Organization, which is outgoing President Trump’s family business. The Trump Organization had been operating four New York City sites for NYC authorities, including the Central Park Carousel, Wollman and Lasker skating rinks, and the Ferry Point Golf Course, and according to de Blasio, the four contracts covering these sites delivered about $17 million a year to the Trump family business. In explaining the city’s decision to terminate its business relationship with Trump, de Blasio cited the president’s role in inciting last week’s deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol.
De Blasio commented, in part, as follows during a Wednesday morning appearance on MSNBC:
‘Our legal team has done an assessment and the contracts make very clear, if a company and the leadership of that company is engaged in criminal activity, we have the right to sever the contract. Inciting an insurrection… against the United States government clearly constitutes criminal activity. So the City of New York will no longer have anything to do with the Trump Organization. They have profited from these contracts, they will profit no longer… Obviously, these are sites that we want to continue serving the public, but not with an organization led by a criminal. So we will get new vendors to come in and take them over quickly. We want to see the service continue.’
On Twitter, de Blasio added that “New York City doesn’t do business with insurrectionists.” On MSNBC, the mayor indicated that he expects a legal challenge from Trump’s business over the move, but he insisted that NYC authorities are “on strong legal ground” in their decision.
New York City doesn’t do business with insurrectionists.
We’re taking steps to TERMINATE agreements with the Trump Organization to operate the Central Park Carousel, Wollman and Lasker skating rinks, and the Ferry Point Golf Course.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) January 13, 2021
This development is far from the only substantive pushback that Trump has faced after helping incite the recent Capitol riot, which unfolded while Congress was inside the building. D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine (D) has suggested that Trump could even face criminal charges over inciting the violence. Meanwhile, the House was slated to impeach Trump for a second time on Wednesday, and a report from the previous day from The New York Times said that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) himself was “pleased” with the action against Trump.
