Trump threatens lawsuits to stop people from ditching his failing brand

Donald Trump has had to resort to threatening legal action to stop companies and individuals from dropping his increasingly unpopular brand name.

He still maintains extensive connections to the Trump Organization, since he has refused to divest his interests in the company, which is run by his sons. And his time in office has only given the Trump brand an increasingly worsening reputation due to his abject racism, bigotry, and misogyny.

In addition to the negative attention, it has also meant financial losses, because few want to be associated with his toxic name.

There is “a growing belief among investors in some locales that the Trump brand has turned from an asset to a liability,” The Washington Post reported.

Jeffrey Rabiea, who owns three hotel rooms in the Trump Panama Hotel, called the situation a “financial bloodbath.”

“Nobody wants to go there,” he added. “If you’ve got a Marriott and a Hyatt and a Trump, you’re not going to Trump.”

Rabiea said the Trump property is performing worse than the rest of the overall Panamanian market. He has only been able to rent out his units for 10 nights out of a month, and the property is attempting to break its agreement with the Trump Organization.

Kent Davis, a realtor in Panama who manages units in the building, told the paper, “Trump got elected and hasn’t won too many friends in the Latino world. There is definitely a stigma on the name.”

There are also problems with condo associations trying to get rid of the Trump name. The organization reportedly threatened to sue the residents of Trump Tower in White Plains, New York, who met to discuss renaming the building.

A Trump attorney attended the condo board meeting and reportedly told residents that the Trump Organization would not “sit idly by,” and would resist efforts to rename the building.

Residents at the Trump Place condo complex in New York City also decided to change the building’s name and received a letter from the Trump Organization’s chief legal officer alleging that the move “would constitute a flagrant and material breach” of the licensing agreement between the property and Trump.

If the residents went ahead with the renaming, the letter warned, Trump would have “no choice but to commence appropriate legal proceedings.”

They were not intimidated, and — perhaps noting that Trump has often made a lot of noise about legal issues, only to lose in court — the condo board asked a state court to rule on the name. The case is still pending.

Trump’s brand is in the dumps. It carries an extremely negative connotation and is bad for business. Neither companies nor individuals want anything to do with it.

And the Trump Organization’s response is to emulate Trump, going on the attack and dragging everyone down into the mud with them.