Trump in the Wake of Capitol Insurrection: Big Banks, the PGA & More Groups that Cut Ties
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Donald Trump Impeached For ‘Incitement Of Insurrection’ At The Capitol
Trump is the first president in U.S. history to be impeached twice
Following the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 incited by the president, Donald Trump is facing a series of hits not just to his political future but also to the eponymous brand that first made him rich and famous.
Lawmakers of both major parties denounced Trump for encouraging a large group of his supporters to march on the Capitol during a joint session of Congress, where protesters descended into a violent mob — and five people died.
On Wednesday, Trump was impeached, for the second time, for inciting an insurrection against the government. Depending on the outcome of his Senate trial, he may be barred from ever holding federal office again.
His Trump Organization and his campaign have witnessed the fallout, too, seeing several of their business contracts terminated in recent days.
Below, a look at which companies and organizations have ended their financial relationship with Trump amid the fallout from the chaos and destruction.
Erin Schaff - Pool/Getty President Donald Trump
New York City
On Wednesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that New York City would be "severing all contracts with the Trump Organization."
The contracts cover four different sites — the Central Park carousel, two ice skating rinks, and a golf course in the Bronx — which will be taken over by new vendors.
"Our legal team has done an assessment and the contracts make very clear: if a company [or] leadership of a company is engaged in criminal activity, we have the right to sever that contract. Inciting an insurrection ... against the United States government clearly constitutes criminal activity," the mayor said in an interview on MSNBC.
De Blasio said the Trump Organization currently gets $17 million a year from the New York City contracts.
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Phillip Faraone/Getty; Tasos Katopodis/Getty Jack Dorsey (left) and President Donald Trump
Social Media Sites
Facebook announced that Trump would be banned until at least the end of his term, while Twitter banned Trump from its platform indefinitely (though he can still tweet via the official White House account).
In a 13-tweet thread published on Wednesday, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey defended the decision, while noting that he felt the move sets a "dangerous" precedent for a "free and open global internet."
On Tuesday, YouTube suspended Trump's ability to post content and comment to the video-sharing platform for at least seven days. The site also announced it had removed a video for violating its policies, though it did not note which video.
"After review, and in light of concerns about the ongoing potential for violence, we removed new content uploaded to Donald J. Trump's channel for violating our policies," a statement from YouTube said. "It now has its 1st strike & is temporarily prevented from uploading new content for a *minimum* of 7 days."
Financial Institutions
Deutsche Bank reportedly said on Tuesday that it would no longer lend to Trump's company, but would continue to monitor his payment of existing loans. The president reportedly owes Deutsche Bank approximately $340 million.
New York-based Signature Bank announced that it, too, would sever ties by closing Trump's personal accounts worth some $5.3 million.
Bloomberg News reported that Professional Bank, a Florida-based institution that once gave Trump an $11 million mortgage, had also cut ties with him.
"Professional Bank has decided not to engage in any further business with the Trump Organization and its affiliates, and will be winding down the relationship," the bank said in a statement.
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Drew Angerer/Getty Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J.
PGA
The PGA of America announced on Sunday that the 2022 PGA Championship would no longer be held at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
"The PGA of America Board of Directors voted tonight to exercise the right to terminate the agreement to play the 2022 PGA Championship at Trump Bedminster," PGA President Jim Richerson said in a statement.
Hours after the PGA announced its decision, the R&A, a U.K. organizer of golf tournaments, announced it would not consider Trump's Scotland resort, Turnberry, for the British Open for the "foreseeable future."
Those decisions were said to have left the president "gutted," according to Times reporter Maggie Haberman.
A lot has happened in the last week, including the president losing his Twitter feed, impeachment coming to the fore and the PGA withdrawing from Trump National. He's "gutted" by the PGA move, a person close to the White House says.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 11, 2021
Payment Processing Companies
Online payment processing firms Shopify and Stripe also cut ties (at least partially) with the Trump company in recent days.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Stripe —which previously handled card payments for the Trump campaign website, including its online fundraising efforts — attributed its decision to Trump having violated the company's policy against activities that encourage or promote violence.
The Journal noted, however, that the financial tech company still processes payments for intermediaries that route donations to the Trump campaign.
Just one day after the riots, Shopify pulled all of its online stores related to either the Trump campaign or Trump's personal brand, TrumpStore. In a statement to TechCrunch, the company said it "does not tolerate actions that incite violence."
"Based on recent events, we have determined that the actions by President Donald J. Trump violate our Acceptable Use Policy, which prohibits promotion or support of organizations, platforms or people that threaten or condone violence to further a cause," the Shopify statement read. "As a result, we have terminated stores affiliated with President Trump."
The Trump Organization's Response
The Trump Organization did not respond to PEOPLE's requests for comment regarding the severed contracts, though the president's son, Eric Trump, told the Associated Press in a phone interview this week that the cancellations are the result of "cancel culture."
"We live in the age of cancel culture, but this isn't something that started this week," Eric said. "It is something that they have been doing to us and others for years. If you disagree with them, if they don't like you, they try and cancel you."
Eric, who currently runs the Trump Organization along with his brother Donald Trump Jr., spoke dismissively about the impact of the past week on the company's future business dealings, telling the AP: "[Trump] created the greatest political movement in American history and his opportunities are endless."
