Trump’s foreign business partners tout his presidency while promoting projects

Developers who do business with the Trump Organization overseas haven’t been shy about touting their collaborations with the president’s company

Just as former presidents, foreign dignitaries and industry leaders traveled to Washington this week for the presidential inauguration, so too did another group that occupies a unique place in President Donald Trump’s orbit: his company’s international business partners. Several heads of foreign companies that have partnered with the Trump Organization appeared in social media photos smiling next to the president, shaking his hand or attending exclusive inauguration-related events. The celebration of Trump’s victory by those partners, some of whom have been repeatedly referencing his presidency on social media feeds in which they promote their projects, highlights the ethical conundrum Trump has created for himself by not divesting his sprawling business interests, government watchdogs say. Trump’s assets have been placed in a trust managed by his children, as they were during his first term. His son Eric, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, has stated their business operations and the office of the presidency will be walled off to avoid any ethical conflicts. But Trump still stands to benefit from those interests, which, in addition to his social media company and cryptocurrency ventures, include licensing deals with foreign developers that have collectively paid millions of dollars a year to use the Trump brand in countries that will inevitably overlap with Trump’s foreign policy decisions. “Upholding Donald Trump’s vision, we’re building iconic landmarks,” one developer behind Trump-branded projects in India posted after the election. “We celebrated the new American president, because we work on many projects with Trump’s group,” the head of another company working on Trump properties in the Middle East said in Arabic in an interview he posted in December.