Celebrity chef José Andrés is looking to take the high road out of a legal battle with President-elect Donald Trump. Just about a year ago, when the idea of a Trump presidency was still laughable, the two clashed after Trump made disparaging comments about immigrants. Andrés, who was on board to open a restaurant at the former reality television host’s new Washington DC hotel, pulled out of the deal.
Trump took issue with Andrés’s actions and filed a $10 million lawsuit against him, prompting a year’s worth of Twitter snipes, protests, counter suits, depositions, and the latest: an insistence from Trump earlier this month that he will not settle the case.
However, Andrés appears to hold the opposite stance. He has taken to Twitter, the president-elect’s favorite social media platform, and proposed an end to the ugliness. Andrés suggested the two put their money to better use and come out of this whole ordeal as winners by donating funds to a veterans group.
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..
— José Andrés (@chefjoseandres) December 13, 2016
Surprisingly, Trump has not yet responded on Twitter. His rhetoric would indicate there isn’t much of a chance for a deal, but reality may prove otherwise: Trump settles lawsuits more often than he would like to admit. Then again, he doesn’t seem to be big on charitable donations.
Andrés hasn’t shared details on what the settlement and donation might look like. Eater has reached out to the chef for more information.
Update, 10/14: A rep for Andrés told Eater the chef has no further comment to share.
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