Jan 10 (Reuters) -

President-elect Donald Trump's company is in negotiations to

repurchase the lease on a hotel in Washington D.C. it used to

own, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people

familiar with the matter.

The Trump Organization had sold the lease on the hotel,

which is blocks away from the White House in the historic Old

Post Office Building, for $375 million in 2022. The hotel was

leased to the Trumps in 2013 by the federal government, which

owns the building.

Eric Trump, executive vice president at the company and

Trump's son, discussed purchasing the lease with merchant bank

BDT & MSD Partners - which controls the long-term lease on the

hotel, the report said.

Talks are still in the preliminary stages and may not lead

to a sale of the property's lease, the report added. The hotel

currently operates under a brand owned by Hilton Worldwide ( HLT )

.

During Trump's first term, Democrats had criticized the

lease as a conflict of interest, after which his son, Donald

Trump Jr, took the reins at the hotel.

The Trump Organization, Hilton and BDT & MSD Partners did

not immediately respond to a request for comment.