Donald J. Wellington Trump continues to look out for the little guy, and then rip him off. Two contractors and one subcontractor who worked on Trump’s D.C. hotel have filed a total of $5 million in mechanic’s liens, much of it for rush work to meet the deadline for the grand opening.

Trump got his wish: The hotel was ready enough that on Sept. 16 he held a campaign event there honoring veterans, which was carried live on national television. He touted the hotel as having been completed “under budget and ahead of schedule” and said that when it opened officially the following month it would be “one of the great hotels anywhere in the world.”

But around the same time, Miller said, the Trump Organization and its construction manager, Lendlease, stopped paying AES. Three days before Christmas, AES filed a mechanic’s lien with the D.C. government alleging that it was out almost $2.1 million. “Merry Christmas and a happy new year to us,” Miller said.

The AES filing brings the total of allegedly unpaid bills on the hotel to more than $5 million. Washington-area plumbing firm Joseph J. Magnolia Inc. and Northern Virginia construction company, A&D Construction, are seeking $2.98 million and $79,700 respectively.

Trump is like a smart person so he doesn’t bother with detailed decision making to stay under budget. He just doesn’t pay for the work. This is sure to be a big hit with the Republican-controlled Congress. Any contracts that can’t be awarded to companies large enough to purchase a Congressperson or two will Come in Under Budget. It will be a cinch once they get rid of those meddlers at the GAO and create a more streamlined bid protest process called Grease My Palms or Kiss My Ass.

If he doesn’t pay up Trump could be in trouble with his landlord unless Republicans can revise the Miller Act toute de suite.

In Trump’s case, the liens could also affect his hotel’s deal with the federal government. Trump leases the building where the hotel is located, the Old Post Office Pavilion, from the General Services Administration.

A clause in the lease requires that Trump Old Post Office LLC notify the GSA in writing within 10 days of any mechanic’s lien being filed. Within 30 days of the filing, Trump’s firm is required to have any liens “discharged” unless it contests the claims being made. Spokespersons for the GSA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Trump is going to have a lot not to talk about

if

he holds that press conference on Jan. 11.

(My guess is if he holds one he’ll come out, yell incoherently for a few minutes and leave. Unless the passes for real organizations mysteriously go astray and it’s all Breitbart, Fox and NRO types.)