Donald Trump sues Jose Andres for pulling restaurant out of DC hotel project

Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit for $10 million against Jose Andres after the celebrity chef decided earlier this month to not open a restaurant at the presidential candidate's new Washington D.C. hotel.

Andres, a Spanish-American chef who owns restaurants around the country that include D.C., Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and Miami, backed out after Trump's controversial comments about Mexican immigrants.

Andres said Trump's statements "make it impossible for my company and I to move forward."

More than half of his team is Hispanic, as are many of his restaurant guests, the chef said.

"As a proud Spanish immigrant and recently naturalized American citizen myself, I believe that every human being deserves respect, regardless of immigration status," Andres said.

"Mr. Trump filed the lawsuit today -- very simply -- due to breach of contract," said Alan Garten, general counsel for the Trump Organization, in a statement. "Mr. Andres has indicated his intent to abandon the contract he signed - and has voiced his intention to not move forward. And the lease he signed - does not give Mr. Andres that right. And thus - it is our intent to recoup the rent he has failed to pay - and all the other rents he has indicated he will not pay -- along with any/and all damages incurred due to his breach of contract."

Trump's new $200 million hotel project is currently under construction at the Old Post Office Pavilion on Pennsylvania Avenue. It is scheduled to open in 2016.

Information used from the Associated Press in this report.

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