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Trump Organization licenses its name to Dar Al Arkan’s $1.6B Oman resort
On November 14, 2022, the Trump Organization announced a licensing agreement with Dar Al Arkan, one of Saudi Arabia’s largest developers, for AIDA, a $1.6 billion hillside project outside Muscat with a Trump-branded golf course, up to 3,500 homes, luxury retail and 450 hotel rooms, built on land owned by Oman’s state tourism company.
What happened
In November 2022, two years out of office and a day before announcing his third presidential run, Trump’s company signed its first new foreign deal since leaving the White House. Dar Al Arkan, one of Saudi Arabia’s largest developers, agreed to build AIDA, a $1.6 billion hillside project outside Muscat, Oman. It has a Trump-branded golf course, up to 3,500 homes, shops and two hotels, on land owned by Oman’s state tourism company.
The Trump Organization put in no money; it licensed its name for a share of sales and golf revenue. The deal was the start of a relationship. Dar Al Arkan and its London-listed arm Dar Global went on to announce Trump towers in Jeddah and Dubai, a golf resort in Qatar, a second Jeddah project and a golf club inside Saudi Arabia’s Diriyah megaproject. Most came after Trump returned to office.
Trump’s 2025 disclosure records $949,642 in licence fees from the Oman project for the year, and $25.8 million from Dar Al Arkan entities across the Gulf. This record is a prelude; the 2025 fees are counted on the later project records.
Who benefited
The Trump Organization gained a fee stream with no capital at risk and a Gulf partner that would carry its brand into four countries. Dar Al Arkan secured a brand it said still had “very big pull” with Gulf buyers.
Who wanted something
Dar Al Arkan is a Saudi company whose chairman has close ties to the kingdom’s leadership, and Oman’s state tourism company owns the land. Both had, and have, interests in how a future U.S. administration treats the Gulf.
Who lost out
No public money is involved. The cost is to the line between a former and future president’s business and the governments he would deal with. A Saudi developer on Omani state land was paying the Trump brand before the 2024 campaign began.
Why it matters
This is where the Gulf licensing pipeline started. One deal in 2022 became a partner that paid Trump’s companies $25.8 million in 2025 alone across Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, while he set policy toward all four.
Sources Golf Business NewsThe New York TimesGulf ConstructionU.S. Office of Government Ethics (primary)