Former New York Yankees player Alex Rodriguez is involved in an investment group trying to buy former President Donald Trump’s hotel in Washington, D.C., according to a report.
Individuals familiar with the matter told The Associated Press the $375 million deal could close within weeks.
The outlet explained the deal would make Rodriguez “an unlikely financial savior for Trump, allowing him to recoup millions he invested and perhaps even emerge with a profit from his money-losing hotel.”
The Associated Press mentioned previous reports that identified the buyer as Miami-based CGI Merchant Group. The rights to lease the hotel are being bought by a fund led by CGI.
The fund reportedly includes Rodriguez as a general partner. According to one of the sources, the fund has been identified as the $650 million Hospitality Opportunity Fund.
CGI, Rodriguez and New York real estate financier Adi Chugh set up the fund in 2020 “to buy hotels with plunging valuations due to coronavirus shutdowns and rebrand them as a collection of ‘socially conscious’ and ‘eco-friendly’ properties,” as the outlet reported.
Trump previously criticized Rodriguez, tweeting in 2013, “The @Yankees should immediately stop paying A-Rod — he signed his contract without telling them he was a druggie.”
In March 2020, it was reported that the former president reached out to Rodriguez for advice on handling the COVID-19 pandemic.
ABC News’ John Santucci tweeted on March 27, 2020, “During marathon day of meetings earlier this week, President Trump continued outreach across the country regarding coronavirus and phoned former Yankees baseball player Alex Rodriguez. Multiple sources tell ABC, the president spoke to ARod from the Oval Office via me and [Katherine Faulders].”
A source close to Rodriguez told @ABC the call with Trump was “pleasant” adding that Trump was seeking thoughts from ARod about the coronavirus response. Sources say there was no discussion of AROD or his fiancé Jennifer Lopez taking on any official effort.
— John Santucci (@Santucci) March 28, 2020
He continued, “A source close to Rodriguez told [ABC] the call with Trump was ‘pleasant’ adding that Trump was seeking thoughts from ARod about the coronavirus response. Sources say there was no discussion of AROD or his fiancé Jennifer Lopez taking on any official effort.”
