The Trump Organization announced plans Monday to develop a luxury Trump Tower in Saudi Arabia.
The upcoming tower will be located in Jeddah and will be developed in partnership with Dar Global, the international branch of the Saudi mega-developer Dar Al Arkan.
If completed, the Jeddah tower will mark the Trump Organization’s first major project in Saudi Arabia.
“We are excited to expand our presence in the Middle East and bring the Trump model of luxury to the region through our continued partnership with Dar Global,” said Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization and son of former President Donald Trump. in the announcement.
Dar Global noted that the project aims to attract “Saudi Arabia’s luxury market and international investors”.
This new venture in Saudi Arabia follows the recent unveiling of a $500 million Trump International hotel complex in Oman by the Trump Organization and Dar Global.
The five-star hotel complex in Oman, expected to open in December 2028, will feature a nightclub, golf course and members-only club. Dar Al Arkan has licensed the Trump name and logo for this hotel, which is not owned by the Trump Organization.
These new projects in the Middle East could raise concerns about potential conflicts of interest if former President Donald Trump were to return to the White House.
“The Trump Organization’s continued foreign business ventures raise serious national security, corruption and constitutional concerns,” said Donald K. Sherman, senior vice president and chief counsel at Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington (CREW), in a statement to CNN.
“This is especially true for their deployment in Saudi Arabia, a government known for trying to influence Donald Trump,” Sherman added. “If Trump returns to the presidency, he could violate the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause, as he repeatedly did during his first term.”
A 2023 CREW analysis found that Trump earned at least $9.6 million from Middle Eastern countries during his presidency.
The Trump Organization is owned by a private trust with former President Trump as the sole beneficiary. The family business is run by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump’s sons.
Last year, the Trump Organization was fined $1.6 million by a New York judge for a decade-long tax fraud scheme. Two Trump entities were convicted of 17 felonies, including tax fraud and falsifying business records.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jared Kushner’s investment firm, run by the former president’s son-in-law, who advised on foreign policy during the Trump administration, has reportedly secured a $2 billion investment from Saudi Arabia’s royal fund.
Recently, Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, launched an investigation into Kushner’s company and its connections to Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern governments. Wyden expressed concerns that investments in Kushner’s company could lead to “significant conflicts of interest and potential counterintelligence risks.”
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