Members of the Trump family will be visiting Vancouver this month to celebrate the grand opening of the Vancouver Trump Tower.
Eric and Donald Trump Jr. – Trump’s two adult sons – will be in town for the official grand opening on the morning of Feb. 28.
It will involve a ribbon cutting ceremony with the Trump family and Joo Kim Tiah, CEO of the Holborn Group, the tower’s developer.
Eric and Donald Jr. both currently serve as executive vice presidents and trustees for the Trump Organization which plans and manages real estate, hotels, golf courses and resorts around the world under the Trump brand.
The pair’s recent promotional trips to various business destinations has caused a stir in the U.S.
Media reports showed their January trip to Uruguay cost taxpayers almost $100,000 in Secret Service bills.
This week, Trump’s sons will be the guests of honor for the opening of the Trump International Golf Club Dubai on Feb. 18.
When they visit Vancouver, they may not be greeted warmly by the city.
Many see the Trump Tower as a stain on the city’s skyline due the controversial policies and remarks made by its namesake Donald Trump over the last several years.
After Trump pledged to ban all Muslims from entering the U.S. in December 2015, Mayor Gregor Robertson penned a letter to the Holborn Group asking the developer to take the Trump name off the tower. Premier Christy Clark also noted her support for the idea.
“Donald Trump’s hateful positions and commentary remind us all of much darker times in our world’s past — and it is incumbent on all of us to forcefully challenge hatred in all of the ways it confronts us,” Robertson wrote at the time.
Also following Trump’s comments on Muslims, a poll found 62 per cent of people in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal wanted the Trump name off towers in Toronto and Vancouver.
The tower’s name was also briefly changed to “Dump Tower” on Google Maps in November 2016 shortly after Trump was elected president.
It was sentiments like these which caused some to wonder whether the tower’s delayed opening was due to a looming public relations crisis. The issue hit a boiling point after a leaked tape of Trump on “Access Hollywood” in 2005 caught him revealing he’d grabbed women by the genitals without consent because “when you’re a star, they let you do it.”
After a delay of almost six months from its originally-planned opening date, the tower began housing guests shortly after Inauguration Day in January. But even the soft-opening was plagued with criticism.
Reviews of the hotel on several websites poked fun at the recent controversies surrounding President Trump, including alleged Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee and suggestions Russia might have compromising personal information about Trump.
“Maids came as a pair, only spoke Russian, and preceded to take off their clothes when they entered the bedroom,” said one reviewer. “I left and when I came back the sheets were wet.”
The Georgia Street tower has also been the location-of-choice for several large protests, including the Vancouver Women’s March.
As the President continues to announce controversial policies, like his attempt to ban travel into the U.S. from citizens of seven majority-Muslim nations, the building could remain a symbolic destination for anyone needing to unleash their temper toward Trump.
With this month’s grand opening events, the Trump family could be in for an ear-full.
–With files from Reuters
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