Money Grab/Charge for access to the president
Indian developers pay Trump $10.2M in 2025 licence fees with none of his capital at risk
The Trump Organization collected an estimated $10 million to $12 million in licensing fees from Indian real estate partners in 2025, across 13 branded projects in six cities, without investing any of its own capital. The fees arrived while Trump imposed tariffs on Indian goods.
What happened
The Trump Organization licenses its name to Indian developers, chiefly Tribeca Developers, who build and sell Trump-branded towers. The Organization puts in no capital and typically receives upfront fees or 3% to 5% of project sales. In March 2025 the partners launched six new projects, and by August the portfolio covered 13 branded projects in six cities, making India the Organization’s largest market outside the United States.
On August 6, 2025, Business Today estimated the arrangements would produce about $12 million in fees for 2025. The same week Trump called India a dead economy and imposed a 25% tariff on Indian goods, doubled to 50% over India’s purchases of Russian oil.
Trump’s 2025 financial disclosure, released June 30, 2026, put India at about $10 million of his $61 million in foreign licensing income, second only to the UAE. Forbes also reported that Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance paid a Trump company $1.5 million in 2025, months before the administration granted Reliance a license to buy Venezuelan oil.
Who benefited
Trump receives the fees personally through the Trump Organization, which took in about $10 million from India in 2025 with none of its own capital at risk. Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. run the Organization and now hold 20% of new licensing deals.
Who wanted something
Tribeca Developers and the other Indian partners pay for the Trump name, and their country was in tariff negotiations with the administration while the fees were paid. Reliance Industries paid $1.5 million and later received a U.S. license to buy Venezuelan oil.
Who lost out
No public money changed hands, but U.S. tariff policy toward India was set by a president taking income from Indian developers at the same time. Indian exporters absorbed a 50% tariff while his partners paid for his name.
Why it matters
The president was pressuring India with a 50% tariff while Indian developers paid him about $10 million for the use of his name. An Indian conglomerate that paid him $1.5 million later won a U.S. oil license. He risked none of his own capital. India was the second-largest source of his foreign licensing income in 2025.
Sources Business TodayForbesIndia.comOutlook MoneyU.S. Office of Government Ethics (primary)