Money Grab/Give government contracts to family and donors
Trump Tower Dubai launches with Saudi-owned developer Dar Global
On April 29, 2025, Dar Global and the Trump Organization launched Trump International Hotel & Tower, Dubai. An enabling-works contract for the site was valued at about $545 million. The Trump Organization’s licensing fee was not disclosed. It is the fifth Trump-branded project the two have announced in under two years.
What happened
Dar Global is a London-listed developer and the international arm of Dar Al Arkan, a Saudi-listed company that has become the Trump Organization’s most frequent partner. It has Trump-branded projects in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE.
On April 29, 2025, Dar Global and the Trump Organization launched Trump International Hotel & Tower, Dubai. It is an 80-storey tower of about 350 metres on Sheikh Zayed Road, with a hotel, residences and what the developer calls Dubai’s highest outdoor pool. The project’s total value is about AED 2 billion, or $545 million.
The Trump Organization does not fund construction; it licenses its name for a fee that has not been disclosed. Dar Global awarded the enabling-works contract to Edrafor Emirates on December 10, 2025 and a podium contract to Gulf Asia Contracting in August 2026. Handover is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2031, almost three years after Trump’s term ends.
Who benefited
DT Marks Dubai DG LLC took a $10.36 million licence fee from Dar Al Arkan in 2025, the largest foreign licence line on Trump’s disclosure. No capital was at risk, and family members own 20% of the entity. Dar Global gains the brand for a $545 million tower.
Who wanted something
Dar Global and its Saudi parent build in Gulf states that host U.S. bases and negotiate with Washington on arms, chips and investment. The record does not identify a specific matter Dar Global itself had before the U.S. government.
Who lost out
No public money is in this record. What the public does not get is the fee: how much a Saudi-controlled developer pays the president’s family for this tower and the four before it is private, visible only as aggregate lines on an annual disclosure.
Why it matters
Trump sets U.S. policy toward the Gulf, and his company keeps signing new towers with a developer controlled from Saudi Arabia. This is the fifth project the two have announced in under two years. The $545 million is the size of the building, not the family’s take; the take surfaced a year later as a $21 million UAE line on his disclosure.
Sources The Trump Organization / PR Newswire (primary)AGBIPR Newswire (primary)MEEDU.S. Office of Government Ethics (primary)