Business

Mediaite reports: According to documents obtained by House Democrats from the General Services Administration, the much-discussed Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. fell well below its revenue projections in its first two months of operation. Per the docs provided to the Democrats, the hotel pulled in revenue of $1.3 million in September and $2.8 million in October. The projections for …

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order as early as Monday stating his intention to renegotiate the free trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico, a White House official told NBC News. Eliminating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which was crafted by former President Bill Clinton and enacted in 1994, …

The Washington Post reports: Airplanes belonging to Donald Trump’s businesses will be inspected over the next four years by employees of the Federal Aviation Administration that he will lead. Disputes over Trump’s trademark registrations could be reviewed by judges appointed by his hand-picked commerce secretary. His Department of Housing and Urban Development could reverse its past opposition to a potentially …

President-Elect Donald Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho today committed an outright corporate endorsement, urging his followers to buy L.L. Bean products after the company’s heiress was found to have made an illegal campaign donation. The Associated Press reported last week: L.L. Bean heiress Linda Bean made excessive contributions to a political action committee she bankrolled to support Republican President-elect Donald Trump, …

So much for “clean diesel.” NBC News reports: Volkswagen will pay a $4.3 billion penalty for diesel emissions rigging, the U.S. Justice Department and several other federal agencies announced on Wednesday. As a result of the criminal investigation into the diesel scandal, regulators also revealed that six executives have been indicted on charges ranging from wire fraud to conspiracy to …

Think Progress reports: On Sunday, FCA US, the parent company of Fiat and Chrysler, announced that it will spend $1 billion to expand plants in Michigan and Ohio and create 2,000 more jobs in the U.S. The move, as the company made clear in its press release, is simply the next phase in an expansion plan it announced last year …

The Washington Post reports: The U.S. economy added 156,000 new jobs in December, according to government data issued Friday. The final issued by the Labor Department during President Obama’s administration showed the unemployment rate at 4.7 percent, slightly up from 4.6 percent the previous month. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected American companies to add 180,000 jobs in the month. …

From the makers of the smartphone app Trigger: We are excited to announce the release of our latest trigger type: Trump Triggers! This trigger gives you the ability to trade stocks based off of Trump’s tweets about public companies. This one-of-a-kind trigger notifies you when President-Elect Trump tweets about a publicly traded stock that you own in real time. These …

You knew this was coming. Via World Net Daily: In the battle of Macy’s vs. Donald Trump, it appears the clear loser continues to be Macy’s. On Wednesday, the retailer announced disappointing holiday sales, prompting its stock to drop more than 9 percent. The company also released the locations of 68 of the 100 stores it plans to close, with …

USA Today reports: After seeing sales drop during the holidays, Macy’s said Wednesday it has either closed or will shutter 68 stores and cut an additional 6,200 positions at a time when shoppers are going online to buy everything from scarves to lipstick. Of the 68 stores out of 730 in total, nine closings had been previously announced and three …

CNBC reports: General Motors disputed the facts in Donald Trump’s Tuesday morning attack on the automaker, saying it makes most of its Chevy Cruze models in the United States. The company said in a statement that “all Chevrolet Cruze sedans sold in the U.S.” are made at an assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio. It clarified that it builds hatchback models …

Politico reports: General Motors is the latest target of President-elect Donald Trump’s Twitter cannon, with the Manhattan billionaire complaining that the American automaker is manufacturing cars in Mexico and importing them into the U.S. without penalty. “General Motors is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers-tax free across border. Make in U.S.A. or pay big border …

Salon reports: Donald Trump is taking credit for a jobs deal that he objectively had nothing to do with. The president-elect bragged on Wednesday about brokering a deal in which Sprint will bring 5,000 jobs to the United States and another company, OneWeb, will bring 3,000 jobs into this country. This is consistent with a theme that Trump has been …

Bloomberg reports: In a year when populist voters reshaped power and politics across Europe and the U.S., the world’s wealthiest people are ending 2016 with $237 billion more than they had at the start. Triggered by disappointing economic data from China at the beginning, the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union in the middle and the election of billionaire …

Via Raw Story: As news of Carrie Fisher’s death at the age of 60 permeated social media Tuesday, fans of the “Star Wars” actress took to Twitter to mourn the tragic loss of an unparalleled heroine. But while users reminisced over Fisher’s incredible talent, wit and spirit, a certain mall-and-airport-based sticky bun brand opted to send off a rather tasteless …

Raleigh’s NBC affiliate reports: The executive committee of the state NAACP will ask the national leaders of the civil rights group for a nationwide economic boycott of North Carolina to protest the actions of the General Assembly, state NAACP President Rev. William Barber said Thursday. “This legislature is trying to raise a new Confederacy in policy,” Barber said at a …

CNN reports: The Trump transition team is floating the possibility of an early executive action to impose tariffs on foreign imports, according to multiple sources. Such a move would deliver on President-elect Donald Trump’s “America First” campaign theme. But it’s causing alarm among business interests and the pro-trade Republican establishment. The Trump transition team didn’t immediately respond to a request …

The Guardian reports: Northern Ireland’s attorney general cannot refer back to the supreme court the case of a local bakery fined for refusing to bake a gay-themed cake. John Larkin QC’s legal bid to get the supreme court to review court rulings against Ashers Bakery was deemed to have come in too late, Northern Ireland’s lord chief justice said on …

The Washingtonian reports: Before the Trump International Hotel opened, Donald Trump liked to brag that the business he and his family built inside the Old Post Office would be “one of the great hotels of the world.” But according to a year-end list of new luxury hotels from a travel group that specializes in high-end accommodations, it’s one of the …

Reuters reports: The U.S. Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter point on Wednesday and signaled a faster pace of increases in 2017 as the Trump administration takes over with promises to boost growth through tax cuts, spending and deregulation. The rate increase, regarded as a virtual certainty by financial markets in the wake of a string of generally …