Celebrity chef Jose Andres has a proposition for President-elect Donald Trump: end their legal battle stemming from Trump’s inflammatory comments about Mexican immigrants and instead donate money to a veterans organization.
“Mr. @realDonaldTrump can we end our lawsuits and we donate $ to a Veterans NGO to celebrate? Why keep litigating? Let’s both of us win,” Andres tweeted to Trump Tuesday.
Trump’s team did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.
In July 2015, Andres backed out of a plan to open up a restaurant in the lobby of the Trump International Hotel in Washington after Trump called undocumented Mexican immigrants “rapists” and “criminals” when he launched his bid for president.
Trump then sued Andres for breach of contract in August 2015, causing both Andres and fellow chef Geoffrey Zakarian — who also backed out of his deal to open up a restaurant in the hotel — to file counter-claims. They’ve been locked in a battle for more than a year.
Trump is scheduled to answer lawyers’ questions during a deposition in the $10 million breach-of-contract lawsuit he filed against Andres weeks before his inauguration, The Washington Post reported Monday.
Andres appeared with former Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on the same day that Trump attended a ribbon cutting ceremony for his hotel in October.
