Trump to hold election night party at his hotel in Washington : Report

US President Donald Trump is expected to hold his election night party at his hotel in Washington even as there are limits on large gatherings in the city due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a media report.

The New York Times reported that Trump will hold his election night party at his hotel in Washington on November 3 and this could set up a potential standoff with the city’s Democratic mayor over the district’s limits on gatherings. Trump, a Republican is being challenged by the Democratic Party's nominee Joe Biden in the November 3 presidential election.

The NYT report added that the District of Columbia has little say over events on the White House grounds, but the campaign’s selection of the Trump International Hotel as the venue for the president’s election night festivities could be different.

Due to the pandemic, gatherings of more than 50 people in Washington are not allowed under the city’s emergency orders.

The city’s mayor Muriel Bowser said she is aware of the plans for the election night gathering and suggested that the city could take action against the hotel.

“I heard about something this morning. We will be in touch with our licensee, which is the hotel,” Bowser said.

The NYT report said Trump and Bowser have clashed on a number of issues this year, from the White House not cooperating with contact tracing efforts after an earlier outbreak of coronavirus in the West Wing to the federal government’s use of National Guard units in June to disperse protests that followed the police killing of George Floyd.

“The Trump hotel, a destination for lobbyists, foreign politicians, religious groups and Fox News personalities, has been the source of multiple disputes” during Trump’s first term, including complaints that the president was blurring the lines between his business and his office, the report added.

Even as limits have been set on large gatherings due to the pandemic, the White House has largely ignored those limits.

In August, Trump hosted more than a thousand supporters on the White House lawn for his speech accepting the Republican nomination for president.

At another event last month, Trump introduced his Supreme Court nominee, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, in front of a crowd of several hundred people in the Rose Garden.

(Image: AP)