Trump Project Expected for Saudi Government Development

Donald Trump’s sons may add another Gulf trophy to the Trump Organization’s fast-expanding portfolio, this time inside one of Saudi Arabia’s most ambitious megadevelopments.

The family business is in negotiations for a Trump-branded component at Diriyah, the $63 billion state-backed remake of the kingdom’s historic town, the New York Times reported. The revelation was divulged by Jerry Inzerillo, chief executive officer of the development.

The discussions come as Trump prepares to host Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Washington next week. The prince chairs the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, which controls all of Saudi Arabia’s so-called “giga-projects,” including Diriyah.

It’s the same project that saw senior executives tied to the development detained by Saudi authorities last month as part of an anti-corruption probe.

Inzerillo said a deal with the Trump Organization is “just a matter of time,” adding that Saudi officials courted Trump’s interest during his state visit in May with a tour and a walkthrough of Diriyah’s rapidly rising construction zones. The pitch, he said, was simple: appeal to Trump the developer.

It’s yet another example of the growing convergence of diplomacy and dealmaking in Trump’s second term.

The talks follow a burst of Gulf activity for the Trump brand.

Dar Global — the developer behind multiple Trump-branded projects in Riyadh, Dubai, Qatar and Oman — has signaled more Saudi deals are imminent. In the fall, the Trump Organization reached an agreement with Dar Global to build a $1 billion Trump Plaza development in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The firm paid the Trump Organization nearly $22 million in licensing fees last year, according to Trump’s disclosure, with the payouts flowing in even as most of the towers and golf courses remain years from completion.

Diriyah could be the most politically sensitive addition yet. Mohammed bin Salman is seeking a mutual defense pact with Washington and potentially U.S. nuclear technology. Any Trump-branded deal would place the president in negotiations — political and commercial — with the same foreign leader, a dynamic in which no previous president has allowed themselves to be.

— Holden Walter-Warner