The Trump Organization is suing New York City for terminating its contract at a Bronx golf course in response to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The lawsuit, filed in New York State Supreme Court on Monday, alleges that Mayor Bill de Blasio used the deadly riot as a "pretext" to illegally end the company's operation of the city's Ferry Point Golf Course.
It accuses the mayor of harboring a "pre-existing, politically-based predisposition to terminate Trump-related contracts." After January 6th, the suit states, de Blasio “denounced President Trump in the most inflammatory terms,” and "incited others to terminate business with Trump-related entities."
The riot, which left five people dead, led the city to sever multiple contracts with the Trump administration, including its operation of two ice rinks in Central Park. The golf course, which opened in 2015, had netted the Trump Organization about $17 million annually, according to the mayor.
“Donald Trump directly incited a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol," de Blasio's press secretary Bill Neidhardt said this week. "You do that, and you lose the privilege of doing business with the City of New York.”
A Law Department spokesperson added that the company had breached its contract at Ferry Point by "eliminating options for hosting championship events."
The PGA Championship — one of golf's four major events — announced they would not host the 2022 event at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster earlier this year.
Eric Trump, the executive vice president of the organization, said the move was a "political stunt that only hurts New Yorkers."
In the suit, attorneys for the Trump Organization call the Bronx course "one of the most magnificent public golf experiences anywhere in the country.”
