Trump name chiseled off the Trump International Hotel in Panama after weeks of tensions over control of the property. https://t.co/KQuDrUckyr pic.twitter.com/Ph6xlHgwBr
— ABC News (@ABC) March 5, 2018
The owners of the Trump International Hotel in Panama once again control the luxury property that Trump Organization officials had refused to hand over, ending a days-long standoff at the president’s only hotel in Latin America, The Associated Press reported.
The owners on Monday were escorted into their hotel by police and a Panamanian judicial official, and Trump Organization security officials left the property on the same day, the AP reported.
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The move put an end to a 12-day dispute between the Trump Organization and Orestes Fintiklis, a majority owner of the hotel who wanted to scrub the property of the company and its brand.
During a press conference, Fintiklis seemed confident he had won the legal battle against the Trump Organization.
“Today, this dispute has been settled by the judges and the authorities of this country,” Fintiklis said, according to The Washington Post.
In February, Fintiklis filed a legal complaint to fire the organization and alleged that it had improperly destroyed documents, the AP reported.
When he went to deliver the notice to the Trump Organization, he said he was “pushed and shouted at” by the organization’s security outfit, the news wire reported. Hotel employees then called the police and the Trump team’s security stayed in the lobby, though no further conflicts took place.
Fintiklis and the owners of the hotel tried to remove the Trump name from the building last year in an effort to fix low occupancy rates. The owners also tried to get rid of the organization, but it refused to give up its physical control of the Panamanian hotel.
The owners of the hotel property had paid at least $32 million to use the Trump brand, according to the AP.
A Trump Organization representative did not immediately respond to the AP’s request for comment.