A top law firm and property services company have become the latest companies to sever ties with the Trump Organization following the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Seyfarth Shaw, a national law firm headquartered in Chicago, and Cushman & Wakefield, a global commercial real estate services firm, both said on Wednesday they would cease doing business with President Donald Trump's company.
'The firm has notified the Trump Organization that we will no longer serve as counsel,' Seyfarth spokesman Martin Grego told Bloomberg.
'We are working with the company to secure new counsel for its ongoing commercial matters to ensure a smooth transition in accordance with our ethical obligations.'
Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago is seen on Wednesday. Businesses are cutting ties with the Trump Organization following the Capitol riot on January 6
Seyfarth Shaw, a national law firm headquartered in Chicago, said it will no longer represent the Trump Organization in any litigation
In recent years, Seyfarth has represented the Trump Organization in litigation related to a Las Vegas casino, a Chicago hotel, and a pay dispute with a personal driver for Trump and other Trump Organization officials.
Seyfarth also represented the Trump Organization in a lawsuit against celebrity chef Jose Andres, who backed out of a deal to open a restaurant in Trump Tower after Trump remarked of Mexican immigrants in 2015: 'They're not sending their best.'
It comes as business partners, apparently viewing the Trump brand as toxic, cut ties with the company left and right.
Several banks, including one of his biggest lenders, Deutsche Bank, have reportedly said they would no longer lend to Trump´s company, raising the prospect that the president may have to dig into his own pockets to pay off his loans if he can´t refinance.
'We witnessed the president of the United States encouraging the rioters and refraining from calling in the National Guard to protect the Congress in its performance of duty,' said one bank that cut ties, New York's Signature Bank, once so close to Trump it put his daughter Ivanka on its board.
Cushman & Wakefield, a global commercial real estate services firm also severed ties
A small group of demonstrators protest near Trump Tower on January 7, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. They called for the removal of President Donald Trump from office
Amid accusations Trump incited the mob, the PGA of America voted to strip its namesake championship from Trump´s Bedminister, New Jersey, golf course next year, and a British golf organization said the British Open will not be played at a Trump property in the 'foreseeable future.'
The e-commerce company Shopify also stopped helping run the online Trump Store, and New York City said it was canceling contracts with Trump for skating rinks and a golf course in the Bronx.
'The president incited a rebellion against the United States government, a clearly unconstitutional act,' Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio said. 'That´s unforgivable.
Trump's son Eric said the hits to the family's business empire are part of a liberal 'cancel culture.'
Eric, who runs the company with his brother Don Jr, vowed his father will leave the presidency with a powerful brand backed by millions of voters who will follow him 'to the ends of the Earth.'
'We live in the age of cancel culture, but this isn't something that started this week. It is something that they have been doing to us and others for years,' Eric told the Associated Press in an interview.
Trump's son Eric said the hits to the family's business empire are part of a liberal 'cancel culture.' He is seen addressing the crowd and Trump's January 6 rally
'If you disagree with them, if they don´t like you, they try and cancel you.'
Eric Trump seemed unruffled but combative as he spoke by phone from his office in Trump Tower.
He dismissed the hits as no big threat to a company that has minimal debt -$400 million against billions in assets - and can always tap its vast real estate holdings for cash, not to mention the allegiance of those sticking by the president.
'You have a man who would get followed to the ends of the Earth by a hundred million Americans,' Eric Trump said. 'He created the greatest political movement in American history and his opportunities are endless.'
That upbeat assessment notwithstanding, the limited data available for his private company suggest the Trump Organization´s golf properties, as well as other parts of his businesses, may be struggling.
Its two Scottish golf courses have been losing money for years, it had to furlough more than 1,000 workers last year due to the coronavirus, prices of condos in Trump residential buildings have fallen sharply and the company has been unsuccessful in its plans to sell one of its most celebrated properties, the Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C.
The PGA canceled its tournament at President Donald Trump's golf course in New Jersey (above) since the deadly riots at the U.S. Capitol
Donald Trump is photographed in New York's Central Park in 1986, in front of the Wollman Skating Rink, which he offered to rebuild after the city's renovation effort had come to a standstill. New York City is looking to terminate its contracts with Trump on Wednesday
One person who does business with members at Trump´s golf club in Bedminster said several members are thinking of freezing their membership after the Capitol riot, and that getting new members to join will be difficult.
'They don't want to be publicly shamed for being a member of his golf club,' said the person, who requested anonymity because he doesn't want to lose his clients´ business. 'Do you think a guy who works for a financial firm or a drug company wants to see his picture in the paper?'
Along with his father, Eric Trump spoke to the crowd on January 6 before many of them rushed to the Capitol, pushed over barriers, attacked police, vandalized the building and left five people dead.
'Have some backbone. Show some fight. Learn from Donald Trump,' Eric Trump said before urging them to 'march on the Capitol.'
President Trump said Tuesday during a visit to the border wall in Texas that he bore no responsibility for fomenting the insurrection and warned that efforts to impeach him over his comments threatened only to further divide the country, 'which is very dangerous.'
Asked directly in his interview if he felt his father incited the crowd, Eric Trump paused and then the line went dead.
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