Journalism of Courage
US President Donald Trump reportedly faced a lot of trouble trying to book a hotel room before the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. The US President’s travelling staff delayed their search for accommodation before the international leaders meet and, hence, were told that none of the main hotels had vacancies, reported Buzzfeed.
A local newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt reported that Four Seasons Hotel had declined to host President Trump as they had no rooms available.
Trump, who is a real-estate mogul and owner of many luxury hotels, was left embarrassed after his team found out that every luxury hotel in the city was booked. The property mogul owns no hotel chains in Germany.
According to the Buzzfeed report, King Salman of Saudi Arabia and his massive entourage will be staying at the Four Seasons as well as two other high-end hotels in Hamburg.
Trump will now be staying at the Hamburg government’s Senate House, while his staff will stay at the US Consulate in the city.
The Independent reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is due to meet Trump on the sidelines of the summit to discuss the war in Syria, will be staying at the Park Hyatt. While Prime Minister Narednra Modi will make camp at the Atlantic Kempinski, Hotel, along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Canada Prime Minister Justine Trudeau.
Surprisingly, this is not the first time that US officials have been caught unprepared when it came to finding accommodation for US cabinet members visiting other states. According to a Bloomberg report, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who attended a G20 meeting in Germany earlier this year, had to stay at a sanitarium in a small village known for its hot springs.
Vox states that the State Department is direly understaffed and unorganised, and out of 124 key positions only nine have been confirmed at the State Department.
