Trump-branded properties 'underperforming'

US President Donald Trump's Miami golf resort and Manhattan skyscraper, jewels in the crown of his property empire, are in decline, say US media.

The Trump National Doral Miami has reported a steep drop in profit since 2015, according to the Washington Post.

Since 2015 net operating income fell by 69%, the paper reported, citing Trump Organization documents.

And owners of units at Trump Tower in New York have been selling at heavy losses, Bloomberg reports.

The 643-room Doral resort - which is Mr Trump's highest-earning hotel - is "severely underperforming" other resorts in south Florida, a Trump Organization tax consultant told a Miami-Dade County official last year, according to the Post.

"There is some negative connotation that is associated with the brand," said the consultant while seeking to lower the property's tax rate.

An anti-Trump gunman was shot by police in the lobby of the Doral resort last May

Kimberly Benza, a Trump Organization representative, told BBC News: "The article is absolute garbage.

"2018 is one of the best years in the history of the property."

President Trump bragged in 2016 of claiming depreciation on his commercial real estate as an old property developers' tactic to lower his taxes.

Bloomberg News reports that apartment owners in Trump Tower, Manhattan, were selling for "brutal" losses.

Some flats at the skyscraper - where Mr Trump ran his 2016 presidential campaign and filmed TV show The Apprentice - have been sold at losses as high as 20%.

In Manhattan, only 0.23% of homes over the last two years have sold at a loss, according to data provider PropertyShark.

The tower's occupancy rate is double the average vacancy of most Manhattan properties, according to Bloomberg.

By contrast, the Trump Organization this year reported a 26% increase in profit from foreign governments.

The company said it planned to donate that money to the US Department of Treasury.

The Trump International Hotel in Washington seems to be prospering as diplomats and lobbyists reportedly splurge there.

During the hotel's 2018 year of operation, revenues topped $40m (£31m), financial disclosures show.