7 international Trump properties that could pose serious conflicts
President-elect Donald Trump has at least 28 foreign properties and partnerships that could generate money from foreign officials seeking to curry favor with him and trigger a violation of the Constitution’s “Emoluments Clause,” according to a Paste BN analysis of financial disclosure forms. Beyond those 28 foreign properties are a series of other deals that could expand that list of potential sources of foreign income.
Trump has a stalled office building development here. According to a report in the Argentine paper La Nacion, when President Mauricio Macri called Trump to congratulate him on winning the election, Trump urged Macri to clear the way for his building. The $100 million project would begin construction in June 2017 with approval. Trump transition spokesman Jason Miller denied there was any such discussion during the call. Trump is also building a residential building on the coast of Uruguay with the same developer.
The Bank of China is a tenant in Trump Tower and a lender for another building in Midtown Manhattan.
Trump Tower Manila: In the Philippines, Trump’s business partner has been named special envoy to the United States. Businessman Jose E.B. Antonio is the founder of Century Properties Group Inc., the company behind Trump Tower in Manila. Shares surged 20% the day after Trump was elected. President Rodrigo Duterte is conducting a bloody crackdown to "kill all" suspected drug users and dealers that's drawn strong foreign criticism including from the United States. According to Duterte, Trump endorsed his approach in a recent phone call.
In Azerbaijan, Trump’s hotel partner is Anar Mammadov, a 34-year-old billionaire whose father is Azerbaijan’s transportation minister accused of using his position to enrich his family. Mammadov is trying to rehabilitate the nation’s “kleptocratic image” by “courting some of Washington’s most powerful politicians,” according to a 2015 article by Mother Jones.
In India, Trump has licensed his brand to Trump Tower Mumbai, a luxury condo project being developed by Lodha Group, a real estate giant whose founder is a wealthy politician in the country’s governing party. At an October campaign event in New Jersey, Trump boasted of his “massive” and “very beautiful” projects in India. Just after the election, some of his Indian business partners flew to New York to meet with him and his children. Newspapers in India reported it as a business meeting.
Trump has registered eight new companies in Saudi Arabia. At an Alabama rally last year Trump said: “Saudi Arabia, I get along with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.” *Note: the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump shut down some of his companies in the days after the election, including four that appeared connected to a possible Saudi Arabia business venture.
Trump licenses his name to the Trump Towers Istanbul, where the country has been threatening to take Trump’s name off the buildings. Retired lieutenant general Michael Flynn, Trump’s incoming national security adviser, wrote an op-ed favorable to President Recep Erdogan, the Turkish leader using a failed military coup to consolidate his power and lock up thousands of people who had nothing to do with it. Since the op-ed, Turkey has quieted its calls for removing Trump’s name.
Photo: Spencer Platt, Getty Images