Judge Lets Trump Keep Running NYC Golf Course After City Tried To Cancel Contract After Jan. 6 Riot

Topline

The Trump Organization can keep operating a golf course in the Bronx after New York City officials tried to cancel its contract in the wake of the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol building, as a state judge ruled Friday that golf tournaments canceling events at Trump-owned courses because of the Capitol riot wasn’t sufficient grounds for the city to terminate the agreement.

Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point in the Bronx, New York City, on May 4, 2021.

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Key Facts

The Trump Organization sued the city in June 2021 to keep control of the Ferry Point golf course in the Bronx, which it’s contracted to run until 2032, after the city said after the January 6 attack it would cancel the company’s contract and other similar agreements for city-owned spots the Trump Organization operated.

The city alleged the Trump Organization had “destroyed [its] capability to attract tournament quality events”—citing the fact the PGA tournament canceled an event at a separate Trump-owned course because of former President Donald Trump’s actions on January 6—and that violated the company’s contract and its requirement to operate a “tournament quality” golf course.

New York Supreme Court Judge Debra James agreed with the Trump Organization, however, which argued the contract doesn’t actually say anything about the company being required to attract tournaments in order to maintain its contract.

James’ ruling means the Trump Organization will get to keep running the golf course—even after the city already chose another company, Bobby Jones Links, to run it in anticipation that the court would rule against Trump.

The Trump Organization hailed James’ ruling Friday in a statement as a “well-reasoned decision based on law and facts” and said it was “thrilled” to continue operating Ferry Point.

In a statement to Forbes, a spokesperson for New York City’s law department said those holding contracts like the Trump Organization’s are “held to a high standard,” and the city is “disappointed in the Court’s decision.”

What To Watch For

Whether the city will keep trying to cancel the contract. The city spokesperson told Forbes the government is “reviewing [its] legal options,” and James noted in her ruling that the Trump Organization’s Ferry Point contract includes a provision that the city can terminate the contract at any time “at will,” as long as it’s not “arbitrary and capricious.” James didn’t rule on whether the city could cancel the contract under that provision.

Crucial Quote

“The Trump brand is synonymous with Mr. Trump,” the city wrote in its initial notice to the Trump Organization last year on its contract being terminated, arguing the Ferry Point course would now “be associated with a violent insurrection against the federal government.”

Tangent

Trump’s Ferry Point golf course displayed the presidential seal as recently as October 2021, Forbes previously reported, citing social media posts from the course (other Trump-owned courses have done the same). That could present a separate legal issue for the company, as federal law prohibits displaying the seal in a way that could convey “a false impression of sponsorship or approval by” the federal government.

Key Background

Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said days after the January 6 attack he would cancel the Trump Organization’s $17 million in contracts with the city, which included the Ferry Point golf course along with two ice skating rinks and a carousel in Central Park. The Ferry Point course is now the only one of those properties that’s still Trump-owned, as the New York Daily News reports the city let the other three contracts expire in spring 2021. The Trump Organization’s nixed contracts, as well as the PGA tournament pulling out of playing at Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey, golf course, were part of a broader slew of consequences Trump faced in the immediate aftermath of his supporters’ attack on the Capitol building, which also included the then-president being banned from Twitter and other social media outlets.