The Trump World Tower (source: AP/SITA)
The US Department of State allowed seven foreign governments to rent luxury condominiums in the New York-based Trump World Tower after the beginning of Donald Trump’s presidency. The address is attractive for several diplomatic missions due to its closeness to the United Nations.
One of the tenants is also Slovakia’s diplomatic representation to the UN, the Sme daily reported.
Apart from Slovakia, the spaces are rented also to the governments of Iraq, Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and the EU. Five of these governments were renting apartments there in 2015 and 2016, but Slovakia is not among them, according to Sme.
Monthly rental in the Trump World Tower was $8,500, which is 2.5 times higher than in other buildings in the surroundings, according to the StreetEasy real estate website.
“The rental is fully in line with US legislation and our internal rules,” the Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry wrote to Sme.
Nevertheless, luxury condominiums have been rented without approval from Congress, in what some experts say could be a potential violation of the US Constitution’s emoluments clause.
