Allies and lobbyists flock to DC hotel to peddle their interests

Peter Stone in Washington
Thu 18 Jul 2019 02.00 EDT

On 25 July, the conservative Heartland Institute is slated to host a one-day meeting at the Trump International Hotel, just a few blocks from the White House. It will feature leading climate science deniers who will discuss issues like “the benefits of ending the Democrats’ war on fossil fuels”, according to the institute.

Last month, as Donald Trump was kicking off his 2020 campaign and boasting again of “draining the swamp” of Washington’s powerful lobbyists and elites, a couple of dozen oil and gas executives with the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance were checking into the president’s hotel before a day of schmoozing with Republican House leaders and cabinet officials ...

Fossil fuel interests, pro-gun industry groups, conservative bigwigs, members of Congress, Trump’s 2020 campaign, foreign delegations and all manner of Trump allies flock to his landmark Washington DC hotel to cozy up to the administration, say watchdog groups, former Republican members of Congress and policy analysts ...

“Energy producers maximize their chances of getting every last thing they want out of the administration by spending as much as they can at the Trump hotel,” said Jerry Taylor, the head of the Niskanen Center, a nonpartisan DC thinktank that has rebutted climate skeptics and backs alternative fuels. “This is a transactional administration that pays attention to such things” ...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/18/trump-international-hotel-dc-guests-lobbyists-republicans-executives