Trump aide slams New York City govt's $220m deal with Pakistan-owned hotel

Vivek Ramaswamy, US President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to co-lead a new government department, on Sunday criticised the New York City government’s deal to rent the Pakistan-owned Roosevelt Hotel for $220 million for “illegal migrants”.

As per an agreement reached last year, Pakistan rented out its iconic Roosevelt Hotel to the New York City government for three years. 

Pakistan’s then aviation minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said the New York administration would pay a rent of $210 for each of the 1,025 rooms of the century-old hotel owned by the state-run Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). 

The New York City administration has repurposed the Roosevelt Hotel as an arrival center for migrants where they can get access to vaccines, food and other resources. 

Responding to a post by American author John Lefevre, Ramaswamy wrote on social media platform X, “A taxpayer-funded hotel for illegal migrants is owned by the Pakistani government which means NYC taxpayers are effectively paying a foreign government to house illegals in our own country. This is nuts.”

Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate, will co-lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency with billionaire Elon Musk. Trump has indicated the department will operate outside the confines of government. 

Roosevelt Hotel was closed by Pakistani authorities in October 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, as the country’s economy weakened and the aviation sector faced significant losses.

However, the facility accumulated liabilities of around $25 million in taxes and other overheads.