US President-elect Donald Trump along with others exits One World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York City, yesterday.
New York: President-elect Donald Trump gave sworn testimony yesterday in his $10m lawsuit against celebrity chef Jose Andres for canceling a deal to open a restaurant in Trump’s new Washington hotel.
The deposition of Trump, who takes office on January 20, lasted just over one hour, said Alan Garten, the chief attorney for The Trump Organisation, the holding company for the property tycoon’s businesses.
Trump sued Andres in July 2015 after the Spanish-born chef backed out of a contract to open a Spanish fine dining restaurant in Trump’s new luxury hotel down the street from the White House.
Andres said he pulled out over remarks by Trump, then a Republican presidential contender, criticizing Mexicans as rapists.
According to Trump’s lawsuit, he is seeking damages that exceed $10 m.
Last month, the award-winning Andres, who owns several restaurants in the US capital and elsewhere in the country, proposed to the president-elect, via Twitter, that they settle their differences “in a friendly way” and donate the money to a charity.
But Garten indicated that such a settlement was not on the horizon.
“The case is fairly straightforward,” Trump’s lawyer said.
“In short, the parties entered into a valid and enforceable lease, which the tenant clearly breached by walking out and failing to perform its obligations, thereby entitling the landlord to recover damages in the form of unpaid rent, cost of build out, lost profits and other expenses.”
Andres’ ThinkFoodGroup declined to comment.
