DC Chef Jose Andres Fires Back at Donald Trump: Report

DC celebrity chef Jose Andres fired back over the weekend in the legal tussle with presidential candidate Donald Trump’s company, which is building a luxury hotel in DC.

Trump is suing Andres’ ThinkFoodGroup for $10 million for backing out of a deal to open a restaurant at the Trump organization’s new $200 million luxury hotel being built in the heart of Washington, D.C.

“This lawsuit is each unsurprising and with out benefit,” Andres said in an announcement released Saturday night to Politico.

“Simply put, Mr. Trump’s comments made ThinkFoodGroup’s participation in this project impossible and constituted a breach which the landlord, Trump Old Post Office LLC, refused to remedy. And despite our attempts to negotiate an amicable resolution, we were ultimately forced to terminate the lease.”

Andres announced earlier this month he was pulling out of a deal to open a restaurant at the new luxury hotel in DC being built by Trump, who is running at the top of the GOP presidential polls.

New York real estate mogul Trump immediately ran into trouble after making his announcement to run, after a statement he made about Mexicans: “They are bringing drugs. They are bringing crime. They’re rapists,” Trump said about Mexican immigrants, adding, “Some, I assume, are good people.”

Andres issued a statement afterward, to The Washington Post:

“Donald Trump’s recent statements disparaging immigrants make it impossible for my company and I to move forward with opening a successful Spanish restaurant in Trump International’s upcoming hotel in Washington, D.C.,” the statement reads.

Read the entire statement on the Post Web site here.

An online protest popped up urging Andres to #DumpTrump. Those signing the petition onchange.org said:

Don’t Open A Restaurant in Donald Trump’s D.C. Hotel

“José Andrés embodies the American dream, having moved from Spain to start a family and create one of the most successful restaurant chains in culinary history,” the petition noted.

The luxury Trump International Hotel is set to open next year in Washington DC.

Trump’s comments also got him booted from NBC, where the network pulled the annual Miss USA and Miss Universe Pageants, which are part of a joint venture between NBC and Trump, and Macy’s, where the department store says it isphasing out Trump’s clothing line.

Andres initially posted a message on Twitter, in response to an WAMU report about the petition: “My views on immigration are clear. All men and women should be treated respectfully regardless of their status.”

Andres became a U.S. citizen in 2013, according to WAMU’s report.