Newly uncovered trademarks show Trump’s Cuba real estate aspirations

Trump businesses have reportedly received at least 66 foreign trademarks since he became president

Donald Trump (Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Donald Trump (Credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Newly uncovered trademarks illustrate President Trump’s Cuba real estate ambitions, as well as those in other countries.

The Trump name had legal protections for use in real estate investing, hotels, casinos and other commercial activities in Cuba from 2010 to 2018, when it expired, according to the Miami Herald.

The president applied for the trademark in 2008, despite previously saying he didn’t intend to do business in the country until it was “free,” according to the Herald.

In August, the government of Argentina approved a Trump Organization trademark to use the president’s name for club services, conferences, golf facilities, recreation facilities and other businesses, according to government watchdog nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Trump has reportedly long sought to build a Trump tower in Argentina.

The watchdog reported that Trump businesses have received at least 66 foreign trademarks since he became president.

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Meanwhile, Ivanka Trump-linked companies had received a total of 41 trademarks from the Chinese government by April 2019, Forbes reported Tuesday. Trademarks she applied for after her father became president were approved about 40 percent faster than those requested before his 2016 electoral victory.

In January 2019, China granted Ivanka’s company preliminary approval for another five trademarks covering child care centers, wedding dresses, and art valuation services, according to Forbes.

Trump isn’t the only developer to see potential in Argentina. Developer Young Woo turned a 2,000-acre plot of farmland less than an hour outside of Mendoza, Argentina, into a 300-odd lot winery known as Dragonback Estate, where buyers can purchase their own 2.4-acre vineyard for roughly $250,000.

Trump’s business interest in Cuba goes against his administration’s rollback of Obama-era policies for international business relationships. Earlier this year, the Trump Administration ended Marriott International’s business in Cuba[MiamiHerald]Wade Tyler Millward