As Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, his namesake company is expanding its global footprint.
President Trump’s son Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, formally announced Wednesday that his family’s real estate company will partner with Saudi real estate firm Dar Al-Arkan to build Trump Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. did.
Earlier this week, the Trump Organization announced it had borrowed the name for two projects in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh, increasing the company’s role in a region of the world important to U.S. foreign policy.
“We have projects in Jeddah, we have projects in Oman, we have projects in Riyadh, we have projects across the region,” Eric Trump said at a crypto conference in the United Arab Emirates this week. We’re doing a project.” .
This approach follows a lucrative business strategy the Trumps have employed for decades: making money by licensing their names to projects rather than building or manufacturing them themselves. It’s something. The recently announced project is a significant expansion for the Trump Organization in Saudi Arabia, which currently operates a golf course and is developing a second golf course.
“We are pleased to strengthen our continued relationship with the Trump Organization and expand our portfolio by delivering premium properties that will redefine Saudi Arabia’s high-growth real estate market,” said Dar Global CEO. CEO Ziad El Char said.
After the 2018 killing of Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi operatives, President Trump had a relationship with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his first term. was criticized for his close relationship with and defense of. The Saudi government and Mohammed bin Salman deny that the prince ordered the killing.
In this December 20, 2016 photo, the national flag flies above the villa-lined green at Trump International Golf Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Kamran Jebraili/AP, File
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund has also invested billions in the private equity firm of President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Trump vowed during his first term that his company would not accept any foreign business, and it remains unclear whether the next president will make a similar vow when he returns to the White House.
“Should we stop all expansion? I don’t know the answer. We tried to do everything right in 2016 and got very little credit for it,” Eric Trump told the Wall Street Journal in October. ” he told the Wall Street Journal, expressing confidence in the company’s growth. will avoid collisions.
Representatives of Trump’s transition team did not respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.
In the months leading up to the election, the Trump Organization has made several deals overseas, including agreeing to manage and brand a $500 million hotel and golf course in the Middle Eastern nation of Oman and licensing the name for Trump Tower in Dubai. We have strengthened our business. United Arab Emirates.
“The UAE is a developer’s biggest dream because they don’t say no to anything,” Eric Trump said at a crypto conference earlier this week.
