Popular Information

05/05/2025

On January 10, 2025, President Trump released an “ethics agreement” detailing how he would handle his personal business interests while in the White House. It is remarkably weak and does not require Trump to divest any of his holdings. Unlike a similar agreement for his first term, it does not prohibit the Trump Organization from striking new deals abroad while Trump is president. Instead, it simply prohibits the Trump Organization from striking deals directly with foreign governments.

Trump’s second-term ethics agreement is such a permissive document that it is challenging to find a way to violate it. But three months into his presidency, Trump has found a way.

Last Thursday, the Trump Organization struck a deal to build a $5.5 billion Trump International Golf Club in Qatar. To develop the project, the Trump Organization is partnering with Dar Global, a Saudi Arabian company, and Qatari Diar, a company owned by the Qatari government. Qatari Diar was established by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund in 2005. Its stated purpose is to “coordinate the country’s real estate development priorities.”

Eric Trump, who runs the Trump Organization, said that the deal was only with the Saudi company and not Qatari Diar. “We have zero relationship with them,” he insisted in a statement.

That appears to be false.

“We are incredibly proud to expand the Trump brand into Qatar through this exceptional collaboration with Qatari Diar and Dar Global,” Eric Trump said in a press release. “Trump International Golf Club Simaisma and our luxury villa community will reflect our highest standards of quality, prestige, and timeless elegance.”

At the announcement of the deal, Eric Trump appeared alongside Abdullah bin Hamad bin Abdullah Al Attiya, a Qatari government official and the Qatari Diar Chairman.

As the deal was signed, Eric Trump posed in front of a backdrop featuring the logos of the Trump Organization, Dar Global, Qatari Diar.

Separately, the Trump Organization announced it was also partnering with Dar Global to build a new Trump International Hotel & Tower in Dubai. While Dar Global is not formally owned by the Saudi government, it “has close ties to the Saudi government.” The tower, slated to be completed in 2031, will feature the highest rooftop infinity pool in the world.

Last week, another company owned by the Trump family, the crypto firm World Liberty Financial (WLF), announced it would be involved in a transaction involving a foreign government. Zach Witkoff, the co-founder of WLF, announced that MGX, a venture firm owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, would make a $2 billion investment in the crypto exchange Binance, using WLF’s embryonic stable coin, USD1. Stable coins are crypto assets pegged to traditional currency in an effort to avoid the volatility of other tokens.