I read them both. The LA Times is one of lawyers involved against him.

My take? This - The attraction of a movie star of sorts and fabulous hotels.
Wash Post:
[..In interviews with a dozen diplomats, many of whom declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak about anything related to the next U.S. president, some said spending money at Trump’s hotel is an easy, friendly gesture to the new president.

Guests at the Trump hotel have begun parking themselves in the lobby, ordering expensive cocktails, hoping to see one of the Trump family members or the latest Cabinet pick. One foreign official hoped Trump, famous for the personal interest he takes in his businesses, might check the guest logs himself.

But several expressed concern that spending thousands of dollars on a Trump property could look like an attempt to buy access or favors... www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/2016/11/18/9da9c572-ad18-11e6-977a-1030f822fc35_story.html?utm_term=.b7ee828de421