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Trump Organization breaks ground on $1.5 billion Vietnam golf resort
The Trump Organization and a Vietnamese partner broke ground near Hanoi on May 21, 2025, on a Trump-branded golf and residential complex valued at $1.5 billion. Eric Trump attended. Local officials fast-tracked the project as Vietnam negotiated to avoid tariffs from the Trump administration.
What happened
On May 21, 2025, the Trump Organization and Hung Yen Company broke ground on Trump International Hung Yen on roughly 990 hectares of farmland southeast of Hanoi. Hung Yen Company is a subsidiary of Vietnam’s Kinh Bac City Development Holding Corporation. The golf, resort and urban complex has an announced investment of $1.5 billion, with completion targeted for 2027. Plans describe three 18-hole courses, hotels, villas and a residential district.
Eric and Lara Trump attended with Vietnam’s prime minister, Pham Minh Chinh, who said the project would receive maximum support. Farmers whose land is being cleared watched from a dike. The ceremony came as Vietnam negotiated with the administration to avoid a threatened 46% tariff on its exports. The New York Times reported that Vietnamese officials had bypassed normal procedures to fast-track approvals.
The $1.5 billion is the project’s total value, not income to the Trump family. The Organization puts in no capital and is paid licensing and management fees, which were not disclosed at the time. Trump’s 2025 disclosure later recorded a $5 million license fee to DT Marks Vietnam LLC for the year.
Who benefited
The Trump Organization collects licensing and management fees without putting up capital, and Vietnam produced about $5 million of Trump’s 2025 licensing income. Kinh Bac City Development’s project carries the president’s name and received fast-track treatment and the prime minister’s public backing.
Who wanted something
Vietnam’s government faced a 46% tariff threat and was negotiating with the administration. Its prime minister attended the groundbreaking and promised maximum support for a project that pays the president’s company. Eric Trump also met Ho Chi Minh City officials about a possible Trump skyscraper.
Who lost out
You did: trade policy toward Vietnam was set by an administration whose head had a $1.5 billion project under way there. Farmers in Hung Yen lost land to the complex. The record does not say what tariff terms Vietnam received.
Why it matters
A government negotiating trade terms with the United States fast-tracked and publicly championed a project that pays the president’s family. The president set the tariff policy that government was trying to change. Vietnam paid his company about $5 million in licensing fees the same year.
Sources ForbesReuters via Inquirer PlusTuoi Tre NewsAFP via eNCAThe Independent via YahooU.S. Office of Government Ethics (primary)