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Dar Global expands the Trump-branded AIDA resort in Oman
In March 2025 Dar Al Arkan, a Saudi-listed developer, said it would upgrade the Trump-branded golf course at its AIDA project in Oman and expand the adjacent luxury gated community, valued at about $4 billion. The Trump Organization puts up no money and was paid $949,642 in licence fees for 2025.
What happened
In 2022 Saudi Arabia’s Dar Al Arkan signed an agreement with the Trump Organization to put the Trump name on villas, a hotel and a golf course at AIDA. AIDA is a $4 billion gated community outside Muscat, which Dar Al Arkan is building with Oman’s state tourism development company over about a decade. Dar Global, the group’s London-listed international arm, launched sales in 2023 and unveiled Trump-branded villas in March 2024.
In March 2025, with Trump back in office, Dar Global said it had added nearly one million square metres of beachfront land to AIDA. It said it was upgrading the Trump golf course to championship standard and increasing the number of golf- and sea-view units. The company reported that its 2024 gross profit had fallen 40 percent but that contracted sales had risen 60 percent to $1.6 billion.
The Trump Organization puts no capital into the project and licenses its name for a fee. Trump’s 2025 disclosure records $949,642 in licence fees from Oman (line 106, DT Marks Oman LLC, licensee Dar Al Arkan Property Development SPC).
Who benefited
The Trump Organization, owned by Trump and run by his sons, earns licensing income on a $4 billion project without investing in it. Dar Global’s chief executive said in February 2025 that the Trump brand “still has very big pull” with buyers.
Who wanted something
Dar Al Arkan and Dar Global are Saudi-controlled developers whose business depends on relationships with Gulf governments that the administration deals with directly. Oman’s government co-develops AIDA and is courting foreign investment.
Who lost out
No U.S. public money is involved. The cost is to U.S. policy toward Saudi Arabia and Oman, which is now made by a president whose company collects fees from a Saudi developer building in Oman.
Why it matters
A Saudi developer deepened its commitment to a project that pays the sitting president’s company. The 2025 payment was $949,642. The project will take years to complete, so the stream of fees runs through his term.
Sources AGBIGulf ConstructionDar Global (press release) (primary)U.S. Office of Government Ethics (primary)