The Trump Organization plans to build a Trump Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Announced Monday.
The Trump Organization is expanding its influence in the Middle East by partnering with a Saudi-owned developer, a move that comes after the Saudi government invested $2 billion in former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The building will be the Trump Organization’s first development in Saudi Arabia.
“Through our longstanding relationship with Dar Global, we are thrilled to expand our footprint in the Middle East and bring Trump’s luxury standards to the region,” Eric Trump, the former president’s son and executive vice president of the company, said in a statement. “This collaboration embodies our shared vision to create groundbreaking developments that exude luxury, quality and sophistication.”
The announcement comes just weeks after developer Dar Global announced a $500 million Trump International licensing deal. Oman Hotel ComplexThis project is not owned or operated by the Trump Organization.
If President Trump is re-elected in November, further developments in the Middle East could raise concerns about conflicts of interest.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said last year that he would stick with Kushner’s $2 billion investment in a hedge fund if Trump was re-elected. The investment, made just months after Trump left office, raised suspicions of a quid pro quo between Trump and the Saudi leadership.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., last month launched an investigation into Kushner’s investments and business dealings in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.
Wyden argued that the investment in Affinity Partners could create “significant conflicts of interest and potential counterintelligence risks.”
“These arrangements also raise concerns that Affinity’s entirely foreign-financed private investment fund may be used by Kushner and other former U.S. government officials as a loophole to avoid compliance with the Foreign Agents Registration Act and other U.S. laws that require Americans to disclose payments from foreign governments,” Wyden wrote last month.
