Donald Trump to sue Spanish chef José Andrés €9 million for 'breach of contract'
Donald Trump to sue Spanish chef José Andrés €9 million for 'breach of contract'
DONALD Trump intends to sue Spanish chef José Andrés to the tune of €9 million (US$10m) for breach of contract after the celebrity restaurateur pulled out of a lucrative deal in light of the Republican candidate's racist comments about Hispanic immigrants in the USA.
Andrés, originally from Asturias, runs ThinkFoodGroup and was due to open a bespoke restaurant at Trump's forthcoming new hotel in Washington DC, took exception to the tycoon's remarks about how Mexicans in particular were 'rapists and thieves'.
The famous chef runs 18 restaurants in the United States, where he has lived for over 20 years and where he has recently acquired citizenship.
Over half of Andrés' staff and many of his customers are first or second generation Latin Americans.
But when Trump announced that Mexicans moving north into the USA were 'bringing drugs, crime and rapists', Andrés said it was 'not possible' for him to 'continue working with' the property magnate.
Trump has never retracted or apologised for his comments about Mexican migrants – or about how he would repeal the equal marriage law if he got into power, since he 'only believes in traditional' nuptials, despite having been divorced twice – and in fact has gone one step further and said all undocumented migrants in the USA should be deported immediately.
According to the centre-right immigration support group American Action Forum, non-authorised migrants in the USA total over 11 million and deporting them would cost between US$400 billion and US$600bn – or 150 times Trump's personal wealth as reported in Forbes magazine.
Trump conceded that 'some Mexicans are okay' – and showed no embarrassment when news sites published photos of labels from his eponymous clothing brand bearing the words 'Made in México' – and says after all 11 million paperless migrants are 'sent home', the ones who 'are decent people' would be allowed back into the country to live if they wished.
When asked how he intended to go about this, Trump gave no concrete details but claimed his experience as a top businessman meant the policy would be 'successful'.
“Politicians aren’t going to find them because they have no clue. We will find them, we will get them out.
“It’s feasible if you know how to manage a business,” Trump declared.
Most of the USA's undocumented migrants have been living and working in the country for over a decade, and a high number have previously been 'legal immigrants' but their visas expired and were not renewed because of technicalities.
As for the Spanish chef, Trump's press release on the issue says he finds Andrés' stance 'curious' given that the presidential candidate's views on immigration have been 'publicly shared and remained constant for many years', and that Trump's 'willingness to openly share his opinions is well-known'.
The Trump Organisation adds that Andrés 'should have known' about the Republican candidate's 'tendency to make politically-incorrect remarks' before entering into the restaurant deal.
“Nothing in the contract gives the defendant the right to rescind the same on the grounds of feeling personally offended,” the communication concludes.
