Donald Trump’s Offering a ‘Moroccan Ritual’ at His New York Spa

Britt Aboutaleb
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Donald Trump at a rally in Dallas. (Photo: Getty Images)

On Wednesday, a PR company sent me a pitch asking for coverage of their spa’s latest offering: “The Moroccan Ritual, a fresh take on the signature Hammam, offers spa-goers intense hydration by incorporating the enriching benefits of premium Moroccanoil argan oil-infused hair and body care products.” Funny enough, it’s the spa in Donald Trump’s downtown New York hotel. Even better? The press release mentions that “The Spa at Trump SoHo’s luxury hammams are inspired by Ivanka Trump’s travels in Istanbul.” Which would be in Turkey, not Morocco.

Only two days earlier, Donald Trump announced that if he were president of the United States — which, given his 19 percent lead in the polls isn’t as absurd an idea as most Americans would like to believe — he would ban Muslims from entering the country.

The Republican candidate called it a temporary solution, saying in a statement that he wants “a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.” To call the world’s reaction an uproar might actually be an understatement. Mayors across the country are trying to ban Trump from their cities, the White House said his remarks “disqualify” him from being president, a petition to bar him from the U.K. will go before Parliament, and the comparisons to Hitler have been endless.

Just to be clear: Morocco is a Muslim country. While home to Christian and Jewish populations, its king is Muslim, as are over 98 percent of its citizens. It hasn’t yet called for a ban on Trump, though on Tuesday Dubai’s Landmark Group did announce they’d be banning Trump’s home products from their 160 stores across the Middle East. Sachin Mundhwa, the CEO of Lifestyle, the Landmark-owned store that started selling Trump’s products earlier this year, told Quartz, “As one of the most popular home decor brands in the Middle East, Lifestyle values and respects the sentiments of all its customers. In light of the recent statements made by the presidential candidate in the U.S. media, we have suspended sale of all products from the Trump Home decor range.”

Trump might be over Muslims, and they’re certainly over using him to make a buck, but one thing he’s not over? Appropriating their culture in the name of a luxurious $300 spa treatment.

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