Trump Organization, Saudi Government Reportedly Close In On Development Partnership
President Donald Trump's development firm and the government of Saudi Arabia are in talks to build a tower at one of the kingdom’s megaprojects.
The Trump Organization and Middle East luxury developer Dar Global are negotiating terms to partner on a more than 5-square-mile, $63B development in the Saudi town of Diriyah.
Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is overseeing the development, and Trump toured the project site during a state visit in May, The New York Times reported for the first time Saturday.
Jerry Inzerillo, chief executive of the Diriyah development and a longtime friend of Trump, told the Times that there was “nothing announced yet,” but that it was “just a matter of time” before The Trump Organization joined the project.
The Diriyah development is set to include 40 hotels, branded residences, office buildings and retail space. Armani and Ritz-Carlton have each already signed on to put their names on towers, and Inzerillo told the Times that the project had attracted more than $4B in residential sales, mostly from Saudi buyers.
On the first night of Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia in May, architectural models of the Diriyah project were on display during a state dinner. Inzerillo acknowledged to the Times that it was an unusual inclusion for a presidential visit.
“But that’s because you’re looking at the president of the United States as the president of the United States. You’re not looking at him as a developer,” he recalled saying to Saudi officials.
The president’s sons Eric and Donald Jr. are running the family’s real estate business while Trump is in office. The Trump Organization publicly avoided any foreign development deals after Trump won the presidency in 2016, but it’s actively pursued such deals during his second term.
The Trump Organization and Dar Global also announced plans Monday for a luxury villa development called Trump International Hotel Maldives. The organization plans to finance the roughly 70-unit development of beachfront and on-the-water homes through fractional ownership.
The president’s real estate firm is planning to sell interests in the project on the blockchain, which it says is the first time that an in-progress development, rather than a completed project, is being tokenized for investment.
Saudi Arabia’s crown prince is set to visit the United States for the first time in seven years this week and hopes to advance multiple defense deals.
It’s his first visit since the Saudi royal family was implicated in the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, and it creates a situation where the president and a foreign leader are negotiating diplomatic policy while The Trump Organization simultaneously negotiates a development deal with the same government.
The Trump Organization has a longstanding business relationship with Dar Global, the London-listed arm of Saudi Arabia’s biggest developer, Dar Al Arkan Real Estate Development Co.
It is one of several foreign development firms that have worked with The Trump Organization to launch projects in at least eight countries since Trump won the White House for a second term.
Dar paid The Trump Organization $21.9M in license fees last year, according to the Times.
The pair announced plans in March for a supertall hotel and condo tower in Dubai, broke ground in January on Trump Tower Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and partnered on a golf course and villas that are part of a sprawling resort district in Qatar.
The partnership is also working with an arm of the government of Oman to build a golf club and hotel as part of a master-planned development called Aida.
