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Trump Family Signs Deal With Saudi Real Estate Developer
(Look Maggot Habberman) – by Eric Lipton, Maggie Haberman and Ben Protess
WASHINGTON — The Trump family has struck a deal with a Saudi-based real estate company to license its name to a housing and golf complex that will be built in Oman, renewing a swirl of questions about former President Donald Trump’s mixing of politics and business just as he appears poised to announce a third presidential candidacy.
News of the deal, the first such international marketing agreement the Trump Organization has negotiated since Trump left the White House, emerged as the former president already faces a string of investigations into his business.
The project is slated to be built in Muscat, Oman, on a hillside adjacent to the Gulf of Oman, and will include a golf resort, villas and two hotels, a company executive said
The Trump family is teaming up with Dar Al Arkan, one of Saudi Arabia’s largest real estate companies, for the project.
Deals like this — in which the Trump family gets a cut of condo sales or golf course revenue in exchange for allowing its name to be used — used to be a major source of revenue for the Trump Organization before Trump was elected president.
But the family agreed to not sign any new international deals while Trump was in the White House, and it has been slow to negotiate any new ones since he left office as civil and criminal investigations have distracted the Trumps and put a crimp in the company’s growth.
The new deal comes as the Trump Organization is inundated with legal problems. It is on trial in state Supreme Court in Manhattan for criminal tax fraud charges, and it is fighting a lawsuit from New York Attorney General Letitia James, who accused Trump, his company and three of children of fraud.
The financial terms of the deal with Dar Al Arkan were not disclosed.
But a spokesperson for the Trump Organization confirmed the paperwork had been signed to have the Trump brand be a part of the $1.6 billion project, which goes by the name Aida and will include an estimated 3,500 residential units, luxury retail and 450 rooms at the hotels.
“It is an honor to work with Dar Al Arkan, who share our vision for superior quality and excellence,” the Trump Organization said in the statement. “This will be a truly magnificent project that integrates luxury living and world-class hospitality at the highest levels.”
The disclosure of the deal — which came after a reporter for The New York Times asked the Trump company about the project — occurred on the eve of an expected announcement by Trump of a campaign for president in 2024, once again raising questions about his business dealings with foreign nations.
“The Trump corruption complex is back in business,” said Robert Weissman, the president of Public Citizen, a liberal government watchdog group. “It is a remarkable revelation on the expected eve of his presidential candidacy announcement. Even without that, it would be stunning as another in a series of sweetheart deals from the Saudi government to the Trump family.”
Trump had close ties with the Saudi government during his tenure in the White House, authorizing billions of dollars in weapons sales and defending the government there after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. His son-in-law, Jared Kushner, secured a $2 billion investment from a fund led by the Saudi crown prince six months after leaving the White House.
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https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-family-signs-deal-saudi-131115618.html