As Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, his namesake company is expanding its global presence.
Trump’s son Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, officially announced Wednesday that the family real estate company is partnering with Saudi real estate company Dar Al Arkan to launch a Trump Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this week, the Trump Organization announced that it had leased its name for two projects in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, strengthening the company’s role in a part of the world crucial to U.S. foreign policy.
“We’re doing plans in Jeddah, we’re doing plans in Oman, we’re doing plans in Riyadh, we’re doing plans throughout the region,” Eric Trump said this week at a cryptocurrency conference in the Emirates United Arabs. .
This approach follows a lucrative business strategy the Trumps have adopted for decades: making money by licensing projects rather than building or manufacturing them themselves. The recently announced plans represent a significant expansion for the Trump Organization in Saudi Arabia, where it currently operates one golf course with a second under development.
“We are excited to strengthen our existing relationship with The Trump Organization and expand our portfolio by offering premium properties to redefine Saudi Arabia’s high-growth real estate market,” said Ziad El Chaar, CEO of Dar Overall.
Trump has been criticized for his close relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and for his defense, during his first term, following the 2018 killing of Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents . The Saudi government and Mohammed bin Salman have denied that the prince ordered the killing.
In this December 20, 2016 photo, a flag flies on a green surrounded by villas at the Trump International Golf Club in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Kamran Jebreili/AP, FILE
The Saudi sovereign wealth fund also invested billions with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner’s private equity firm.
During his first term, Trump promised that his company would not enter into any foreign trade deals, but it remains unclear whether the president-elect will make the same vow when he returns to the White House.
“Should I stop all expansion? I don’t know what the answer is. I tried to do everything right in 2016 and I got very little credit for it,” Eric Trump told the Wall Street Journal in October, expressing confidence that the company would avoid conflicts.
A representative for the Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
In the months leading up to the election, the Trump Organization ramped up its overseas activities, including agreeing to manage and market a $500 million hotel and golf course in the country. Oman in the Middle East, and licensing its name for a Trump Tower in Dubai in 2017. the United Arab Emirates.
“The UAE is developers’ biggest dream because they never say no to anything,” Eric Trump said at the crypto conference earlier this week.
