After celebrity chef José Andrés decided to cancel plans to open a restaurant at a new Trump property, the presidential candidate filed a lawsuit last week. He wants $10 million in damages from Andrés, arguing the chef breached his contract by refusing to go through with the planned eatery.
But Trump should be wary of Latino business power. Andrés essentially serves as a stand-in for the millions of Latino business owners who constitute 20 percent of all business owners in the country. By singling out Andrés, Trump might have put hot peppers in his mouth.
In the days following Trump's comments about undocumented immigrants and Mexicans in his launch for the presidency, Andrés lambasted the billionaire.
"Donald Trump's recent statements disparaging immigrants make it impossible for my company and I to move forward with opening a successful Spanish restaurant in Trump International's upcoming hotel in Washington, D.C.," Andrés said in July.
"More than half my team is Hispanic, as are many of our guests," he added. "And, as a proud Spanish and recently nationalized citizen myself, I believe that every human being deserves respect, regardless of immigration status."
The U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which has more than 200 local chambers and business associations around the country, and Geoscape's 2014 report on Latino businesses provide some idea of the opponent Trump might be up against.