CNN
—
Just as former presidents, foreign dignitaries and industry leaders traveled to Washington this week for the presidential inauguration, so too did another group that occupies a unique place in President Donald Trump’s orbit: his company’s international business partners.
Several heads of foreign companies that have partnered with the Trump Organization appeared in social media photos smiling next to the president, shaking his hand or attending exclusive inauguration-related events.
The celebration of Trump’s victory by those partners, some of whom have been repeatedly referencing his presidency on social media feeds in which they promote their projects, highlights the ethical conundrum Trump has created for himself by not divesting his sprawling business interests, government watchdogs say.
Trump’s assets have been placed in a trust managed by his children, as they were during his first term. His son Eric, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, has stated their business operations and the office of the presidency will be walled off to avoid any ethical conflicts. But Trump still stands to benefit from those interests, which, in addition to his social media company and cryptocurrency ventures, include licensing deals with foreign developers that have collectively paid millions of dollars a year to use the Trump brand in countries that will inevitably overlap with Trump’s foreign policy decisions.
“Upholding Donald Trump’s vision, we’re building iconic landmarks,” one developer behind Trump-branded projects in India posted after the election.
“We celebrated the new American president, because we work on many projects with Trump’s group,” the head of another company working on Trump properties in the Middle East said in Arabic in an interview he posted in December.
Those ongoing business ties present the appearance, or even the potential, that the nation’s highest office could be used to serve the private financial interests of Trump and his business associates, said Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Bookbinder added that Trump’s business connections also leave open doorways for some to seek to influence him through those assets.
“When there are these kinds of significant business relationships between foreign individuals and the incoming president of the United States and the possibility that foreign governments could do things that affect those businesses one way or the other, you have to wonder whether that’s going to affect Donald Trump’s decisions,” Bookbinder said.
The president does not appear to have taken any overt steps that benefit Trump-branded properties in his first few days in office, though some actions during his first term came under scrutiny for overlapping with his business. For example, the White House in 2019 decided to use Trump’s property in Doral, Florida, as the site for the G7 but later reversed course. Separately, House Democrats found foreign governments spent at least $7.8 million in payments to Trump-owned entities during his first term.
Unlike Trump’s first term, the Trump Organization has not ruled out making new private foreign deals during his time in office. The company, however, has pledged to form no new deals specifically with foreign governments. But before the November election, Trump’s business had launched a project in partnership with the tourism arm of Oman, meaning the Trump Organization currently has an ongoing deal linked to a foreign government.
That collaboration to build a Trump-branded resort on Oman’s coast includes the private developer Dar Global, whose CEO attended inaugural celebrations along with his parent company’s chairman, who appeared in a photo with Trump posted on Sunday. Dar Global has also launched Trump-branded projects in Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
In a statement to CNN, Dar Global described itself as “a luxury real estate developer focused on delivering iconic projects in collaboration with globally recognised brands. Our partnerships are rooted in shared values of excellence innovation and ensuring that we bring exceptional real estate developments to our clients worldwide.”
Concerns about private interests leveraging a president’s name are not unique to Trump. Some of former President Joe Biden’s family members faced such allegations. Jeff Hauser, executive director of a watchdog group called the Revolving Door Project, characterized Trump’s ongoing business arrangements as “the most problematic in at least modern times and probably in the history of the presidency” because of their breadth and depth.
Some attorneys have warned – as some did during his first term – that Trump’s business arrangements also risk violating the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the US Constitution, which bars federal officials from accepting presents from foreign states without congressional consent. The Supreme Court dismissed lawsuits in 2021 that alleged Trump had violated the clause during his last term, saying they were moot since Trump was out of office.
An ethics plan detailed earlier this month by the Trump Organization, which did not respond to a request for comment, states Trump will have “limited access” to the company’s financial information, and the company appointed an outside ethics adviser to monitor major actions.
Karoline Leavitt, now the White House press secretary, told CNN in a statement that Trump removed himself from his business to run for office and waived his government salary.
“Unlike most politicians, President Trump didn’t get into politics for profit – he’s fighting because he loves the people of this country and wants to make America great again,” her statement said.
Nonetheless, some of Trump’s foreign business partners have continued to draw attention to their presidential connections as they’ve touted their projects or pursued new ventures.
One business partner who attended a Trump inaugural event is Hussain Sajwani, the head of United Arab Emirates-based DAMAC Properties, which developed a Trump-branded golf course in Dubai. Sajwani’s company posted a video Sunday that showed him standing near a Trump logo at that golf course, discussing Trump’s presidency as well as plans to invest in US datacenters.
Earlier this month at a Mar-a-Lago press conference, Sajwani announced plans to invest at least $20 billion in such centers. Separately in November, his company posted a link to an interview in which Sajwani said he was open to more deals with the Trump Organization under the headline, “Sajwani: Open for New Trump Projects.”
In an interview with CNN, Sajwani described himself as a private businessman acting on the pro-business policies he anticipates under Trump.
He said DAMAC plans to finance those datacenters, which would boost digital infrastructure in Sun Belt and Midwest states, without government funding, though he said his company may consider partnering with private entities that could add value through land, electricity or other resources. He also said Trump had no personal involvement in the decision to invest in US datacenters.
“I stay away from politics,” said Sajwani, whose company has assets in more than 20 countries. “This is just an extension of our business in America,” he said of the planned datacenters.
Sajwani’s company is just one of various businesses that have formed licensing deals on properties with the Trump Organization over more than a decade, in which Trump’s business receives royalties from separate companies that pay to use his name on assets.
Trump’s financial disclosures filed last year list about $9 million in income earned from Trump-branded projects in foreign countries including the UAE, India, Oman, Turkey and Uruguay.
In India, Tribeca Developers has been promoting plans for new Trump-branded projects in the country and has posted links on its website to more than a dozen articles and videos about the projects since Trump’s electoral win, one of which is headlined: “Trump’s victory sparks Indian real estate boom, six ‘Trump Towers’ planned across India.”
The company also posted a news clip with a photo of its founder Kalpesh Mehta standing with Trump on social media with a message that hypes the projects. Days after the election, Mehta promoted the developments during an interview with a news anchor who introduced the segment under the news peg of Trump’s win.
Mehta posted a photo this past weekend of himself with Trump at an inauguration party, which was also attended by Hary Tanoesoedibjo, the founder and chairman of Indonesia-based MNC Group, which struck deals to use Trump’s name on residential and golf developments in the Southeast Asian nation.
Tanoesoedibjo posted a video from an inaugural event showing Trump shaking his hand.
A separate video Tanoesoedibjo shared after the election, which appears to have been recorded months earlier, features Trump himself complimenting some of their “wonderful” projects. Tanoesoedibjo’s company has been marketing private clubhouses at one of those Trump-branded projects to potential buyers this month.
Neither Mehta nor Tanoesoedibjo nor their companies responded to requests for comment.
In November, Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said congratulated Trump on his electoral victory and wished for progress on investment relations between the two nations.
Months earlier, his son – the crown prince – met with Trump’s sons Eric and Don Jr. to commemorate the launch of a joint venture between the Trump Organization and Oman’s tourism development branch, which did not respond to a request for comment. That project, a $500 million luxury resort, is set to open in 2028.
A video posted by Oman’s royal family shows the three sons dining together at an event in June that included the words, “The Ultimate Power Move,” displayed above a stage. Trump provided a recorded message for that event in which he said the project would be “something very special,” according to video posted by Oman media.
The private developer the Trump Organization teamed up with for the Oman project, Dar Global, has announced more Trump-branded projects and shared content referencing President Trump in recent weeks.
For example, the company reposted content on X in December from a Saudi business group that touted the launch of another Dar Global project – a Trump Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – and paraphrased comments from Eric Trump about optimism for “Donald Trump’s next presidency.” The repost promoted “economic development” in Saudi Arabia and included the hashtag “#InvestmentOpportunities.”
Since Dar Global unveiled plans for that Trump Tower last month, the company’s share price on the London Stock Exchange has increased by about 60%.
The company’s renderings for the tower showcase a 47-story architectural marvel high above the Red Sea, with amenities including a cigar lounge and a members-only Trump private club.
“We’re building the best building anywhere in the Middle East,” Eric Trump proclaimed at the December launch event.
On a recent afternoon, families and tourists enjoying the season’s cooler temperatures strolled past the site along Jeddah’s seaside boulevard – known as the Corniche. There were no workers present, only the Trump branding along with Dar Global’s website advertised for interested buyers.
On social media, the company has targeted high net-worth foreign investors in its marketing for Trump Tower Jeddah. A post on Dar Global’s Facebook page touts the benefits of buying an apartment to “unlock your Saudi residency.” This is in reference to the Saudi government’s premium residency program, which was expanded by royal decree last January in a bid to attract foreign investors and incentivize certain expats already living in the country to stay.
According to the program, if an individual invests the equivalent of about $1.1 million in a piece of Saudi residential real estate, they can qualify for a premium residency visa. Dar Global’s website points out that the visa also gives foreign buyers access to Saudi Arabia’s generous tax code.
In a September blog post, Dar Global CEO Ziad El Chaar wrote that he has been collaborating with the Trump Organization since 2013 and sees value apart from politics in the Trump brand, which he stated represents “an experience synonymous with luxury, exclusivity, and superior service.”
Still, such arrangements present potential complications for Trump, said Bookbinder of CREW.
“There is a lot going on in the Middle East. It’s going to be a key area for negotiation, for making foreign policy decisions in the coming years,” Bookbinder said. “You want to have a president who is making those decisions entirely based on what is in the national interest… not what is in the interest of Donald Trump.”
CNN’s Majlie de Puy Kamp contributed to this report.