Ahead of Trump's inauguration, Trump Organization expands its global business
It's unclear if Trump will eschew foreign business deals as he promised in 2016.
As Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, his namesake company is expanding its global footprint.
Trump's son Eric Trump, an executive vice president with the Trump Organization, on Wednesday formally announced that the family's real estate company is partnering with the Saudi Arabian real estate firm Dar Al Arkan to launch a Trump Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this week, the Trump Organization announced that it had leased its name for two projects in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, increasing the company's role in a part of the world critical to United States' foreign policy.
"We're doing projects in Jeddah, we're doing projects in Oman, we're doing projects in Riyadh, we're doing projects all over the region," Eric Trump said this week at a cryptocurrency conference in the United Arab Emirates.
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The approach follows a lucrative business strategy the Trumps have embraced for decades -- making money by licensing their name to projects rather than constructing or manufacturing them themselves. The recently announced projects are a significant expansion for the Trump Organization in Saudi Arabia, where they currently operate a golf course with a second one under development.
"We are delighted to strengthen our ongoing relationship with The Trump Organization and expand our portfolio by delivering premium properties to redefine Saudi Arabia's high-growth real estate market," said Ziad El Chaar, the CEO of Dar Global.
Trump was criticized for his close relationship with -- and defense of -- Saudi Arabia's crown prince Mohammed bin Salman during his first term, following the 2018 murder of Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents. The Saudi government and Mohammed bin Salman have denied that the prince ordered the killing.
Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund has also invested billions with the private equity firm of Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.
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During his first term, Trump vowed that his company would not take any foreign business deals, but it remains unclear if the president-elect will make a similar vow when he returns to the White House.
"Should I stop all expansion? I don't know what the answer is. I tried to do everything right in 2016 and I got very little credit for it," Eric Trump told the Wall Street Journal in October, expressing confidence that the company would avoid conflicts.
A representative of Trump's transition team did not respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
In the months ahead of the election, the Trump Organization has ramped up its overseas business, including agreeing to manage and brand a $500 million hotel and golf course in the Middle East country of Oman, and licensing its name for a Trump Tower in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
"The UAE is the developer's greatest dream, because they never say no to anything," Eric Trump said at the crypto conference earlier this week.
