Trump Strikes New Overseas Deal and Raises Old Ethics Issue
Unlike Donald Trump's build-and-own ventures earlier in his career, licensing offers a relatively easy and risk-free way to generate cash assuming his brand remains strong.
November 16, 2022 at 12:58 PM
3 minute read
Donald Trump's company is licensing its name for a golf resort in Oman in the first of what the company hopes will be several overseas deals, raising conflict-of-interest issues as the former president announced a third run for the White House.
The Trump Organization said the licensing deal — the first since Trump left office — is with Saudi developer Dar Al Arakan and will include a golf course, hotel and thousands of residential units in the Oman capital of Muscat.
Trump's son Eric, who oversees the company's global real estate interests, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the company is no longer bound by a self-imposed restriction not to make foreign deals while his father was president.
"You can expect more hotel and golf deals overseas in the future," Eric Trump said in a text exchange.
Trump announced Tuesday that he is running again for the presidency in a speech from his Palm Beach, Florida, club.
Trump's company struck many real estate licensing deals overseas before he entered the White House, including for hotels and residential towers in Canada, Dubai, Mexico, India and Turkey. Some branding experts had expected him to put his name on more buildings after he left office, with the added brand appeal of a former U.S. president.
With Trump possibly running again, the company may feel pressure to move fast to add to the Oman deal. Asked if the company would halt such deals if his father was elected, Eric Trump responded, "Why would we do anything differently?"
The New York Times, which first reported the deal with the Saudi developer, said the $1.6 billion Oman resort will have an estimated 400 hotel rooms and 3,500 residential units.
Trump's close ties to Saudi Arabia's ruling crown prince drew heavy criticism following its blockade of U.S. ally Qatar during his administration and the killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist critical of the regime.
Since leaving office, Trump has hosted two tournaments at his properties for the upstart Saudi-funded LIV Golf series that critics say should not be given a venue in the U.S. given the regime's human-rights record. Trump's son-in-law and former senior aide, Jared Kushner, has also drawn scrutiny from Democrats for a reported $2 billion investment from a Saudi sovereign wealth fund for his investment fund started after he left the White House.
Unlike Trump's build-and-own ventures earlier in his career, licensing offers a relatively easy and risk-free way to generate cash assuming his brand remains strong. Before his 2016 election, Trump's real estate licensing deals generated as much as $30 million in revenue in 17 months through May of that year, according to financial documents he had to file as a candidate. Much of that revenue was profit since it was Trump's partners who owned the businesses and bore the costs, not him.
Just how much is profit is unclear, but Trump's longtime finance chief, Allen Weisselberg, told Businessweek in a 2015 interview that the company overall made about 50 cents on every $1 in revenue, thanks partly to licensing. Since the Trump Organization is private it is nearly impossible to confirm those figures.
Bernard Condon reports for the Associated Press.
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllKirkland & Ellis Taps Former Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig’s Digital Infrastructure Practice
3 minute readGreenberg Traurig Combines Digital Infrastructure and Real Estate Groups, Anticipating Uptick in Demand
4 minute readThese Law Firm Leaders Are Optimistic About 2025, Citing Deal Pipeline, International Business
6 minute readO'Melveny Secures Global Clearances for Korean Air-Asiana Merger
Trending Stories
- 1Commentary: Tort Reform Is a Misleading Promise
- 2The Lawyers Waging the Legal Fight Against the Trump Administration
- 3McDermott's Onetime London Leader Headed to Pillsbury
- 4A&O Shearman To Lose Another Five Lawyers to EY
- 5Pearl Cohen Enters San Francisco Market Via Combination With IP Boutique
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250