The Trump Organization said the licensing deal – the first since Trump left office – is with Saudi developer Dar Al Arakan and will include a golf course, hotel and thousands of residential units in the Omani capital of Muscat. Trump’s son Eric, who oversees the company’s global real estate interests, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the company was no longer bound by a self-imposed restriction not to do foreign deals while his father was president. “You can expect more overseas hotel and golf deals in the future,” Eric Trump said in a text message. Trump announced Tuesday that he will run for president again in a speech from his club in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump’s company closed several overseas real estate licensing deals before entering the White House, including for hotels and residential towers in Canada, Dubai, Mexico, India and Turkey. Some branding experts expected him to put his name on more buildings after he leaves office, with the added brand appeal of a former US president. With Trump likely to run again, the company may feel pressure to move quickly to add to the Oman deal. Asked if the company would end such deals if his father was elected, Eric Trump replied: “Why would we do anything different?” The New York Times, which first reported the deal with the Saudi developer, said the $1.6 billion Oman resort would have about 400 hotel rooms and 3,500 residential units. Trump’s close ties to Saudi Arabia’s ruling crown prince have drawn sharp criticism after the US ally was ousted during his administration and Jamal Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist critical of the regime, was killed. Since leaving office, Trump has hosted two tournaments at his properties for the groundbreaking Saudi-sponsored LIV Golf Series, which critics say should not be given a U.S. venue given its history of is about human rights. Trump’s son-in-law and former senior aide, Jared Kushner, has also come under scrutiny from Democrats over a reported $2 billion investment from a Saudi sovereign wealth fund for his investment fund he started after leaving the White House. Unlike Trump’s building and property ventures earlier in his career, licensing offers a relatively easy and risk-free way to generate cash provided his brand remains strong. Before his election in 2016, Trump’s real estate licensing deals brought in as much as $30 million in revenue in the 17 months through May of that year, according to financial documents he was required to file as a candidate. Much of that revenue was profit, as Trump’s partners owned the businesses and shouldered the costs, not him. How much profit is unclear, but Trump’s longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weiselberg, told Businessweek in a 2015 interview that the company overall made about 50 cents for every $1 in revenue, thanks in part to licensing. Since the Trump Organization is private, it is nearly impossible to confirm these figures.
