Trump Organisation eyes Trump Tower in Ho Chi Minh City, government document says
The delegation led by executive vice-president Eric Trump – Trump's third eldest child – will arrive on Thursday (May 22), with plans to meet the city leadership at a dinner at a central hotel in the city.
They are going to inspect sites at Thu Thiem, a peninsula that lies across the Saigon River from downtown Ho Chi Minh City. The city authority has recently earmarked vacant land parcels in this area to woo multibillion-dollar investments for the development of the country's new international financial centre.
This comes amid the ongoing trade negotiations between Washington and Hanoi as the latter has sought to avoid a reciprocal tariff of 46 per cent – one of Asia's highest rates – imposed by the Trump administration and currently on hold until early July.
Trump Organisation is operating or licensing its name to dozens of Trump-branded properties around the world. These projects often encompass a mix of luxury residential, commercial, and hospitality developments.
The Trump International Hotel & Tower in Dubai, announced in late April under a licensing deal with UAE-based developer Dar Global, is an 80-storey skyscraper scheduled for completion in 2031. It is planned to feature luxury residences starting at US$1 million, a five-star hotel, a private members' club called the Trump, and the highest outdoor swimming pool.
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Friday, 8.30 am Asean Business
Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies.
Sign Up
Sign Up
US$1.5b golf complex approved
Another executive group led by Charles James Boyd Bowman, general director of the Trump Organisation's Vietnam project, is set to visit Ho Chi Minh City on Monday (May 19), the internal document says.
Earlier in March, Bowman met Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who urged the Trump Organisation to consider Vietnam as a business base and broaden its investments into other localities, particularly in sectors aligned with Vietnam's priorities.
Last Friday, state newspaper Tuoi Tre reported that the US$1.5 billion project co-developed by Trump Organisation and Vietnam's real estate developer Kinhbac City had received approval from the Vietnamese government.
The project, spanning 990 hectares of land in Hung Yen province near Hanoi, involves developments of golf courses, hotels, resorts, and a modern residential complex.
Reuters reported in March that it would break ground in May, with a second golf and hotel project expected to be announced this year. Both are planned to be operational by mid-2027.
Besides Vietnam, Trump Organisation has partnered to develop golf resorts in Indonesia as its first venture into South-east Asia since 2014.
South-east Asia is home to more than 1,000 operational 18-hole golf courses, with Thailand leading the pack with 306 courses, based on data compiled by consulting firm Asia Golf Journey. Among them, Vietnam and Indonesia currently have more than 80 and 180 courses, respectively.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
20 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Jeffrey Epstein grand jury records to remain sealed, judge rules
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox FILE PHOTO: Judge Richard Berman is seen in this file photo, during a hearing, in a courtroom sketch at Federal Court in New York, U.S., August 27, 2019. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg/File Photo NEW YORK - A U.S. judge denied on Wednesday the Justice Department's bid to unseal records from the grand jury that indicted the late financier Jeffrey Epstein on sex trafficking charges, saying the material paled in comparison to the trove of records the government has about the case but is not releasing. Manhattan-based U.S. District Judge Richard Berman's decision came as President Donald Trump has sought to quell discontent from his conservative base of supporters over his administration's decision not to release files of the case. The judge wrote that it would be more logical for the government to directly release the vast amount of information it has collected from its investigation into Epstein than to petition the court to release the more limited grand jury materials, whose secrecy is protected by law. "The Government's 100,000 pages of Epstein files and materials dwarf the 70 odd pages of Epstein grand jury materials," Berman wrote. "The grand jury testimony is merely a hearsay snippet of Jeffrey Epstein's alleged conduct." The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Trump, a Republican, had campaigned for a second term in 2024 with promises to make public Epstein-related files, and accused Democrats of covering up the truth. But in July, the Justice Department declined to release any more material from its investigation of the case and said a previously touted Epstein client list did not exist, angering Trump's supporters. Evidence seen and heard by grand juries, which operate behind closed doors to prevent interference in criminal investigations, cannot be released without a judge's approval. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore 18 persons nabbed and 82 vapes seized in HSA ops in Raffles Place and Haji Lane Singapore 3 Sengkang Green Primary pupils suspended for bullying classmate, with 1 of them caned: MOE Singapore Woman trapped between train doors: Judge rules SBS Transit '100% responsible' Singapore Religion growing in importance for Singaporeans: IPS study Life Record number of arts patrons in 2024, but overall donation dips to $45.74m Life 'Loss that's irreplaceable': Local film-makers mourn closure of Singapore indie cinema The Projector Singapore Nearly 2 years' jail, caning for man caught with at least 100 sexually explicit videos of children Singapore Grab users in Singapore shocked by fares of over $1,000 due to display glitch In July, Trump instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek court approval for the release of grand jury material from Epstein's case. The grand jury that indicted Epstein heard from just one witness, an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Justice Department said in a court filing in July. Epstein died by suicide in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. He had pleaded not guilty. His death in jail and his friendships with the wealthy and powerful sparked conspiracy theories that other prominent people were involved in his alleged crimes and that he was murdered. The New York City chief medical examiner determined that Epstein's death was a suicide by hanging. On Aug. 11, a different Manhattan-based judge, Paul Engelmayer, denied a similar request by the Justice Department to unseal grand jury testimony and exhibits from the case of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's longtime girlfriend. Maxwell is serving a 20-year prison sentence following her 2021 conviction for recruiting underage girls for Epstein to abuse. Engelmayer wrote that the public would not learn anything new from the release of materials from Maxwell's grand jury because much of the evidence was made public at her monthlong trial four years ago. The grand jury testimony contained no evidence of others besides Epstein and Maxwell who had sexual contact with minors, Engelmayer wrote. Maxwell had pleaded not guilty. After losing an appeal, she has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review her case. In July, a Florida judge rejected the administration's request to unseal grand jury records from federal investigations there into Epstein in 2005 and 2007. Epstein served a 13-month sentence after pleading guilty in 2008 to a state-level prostitution charge as part of a deal now widely regarded as too lenient. REUTERS
Straits Times
20 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Brazil judge targeted by US sanctions confident of Trump reversal
BRASILIA - The judge at the center of escalating tensions between Brazil and the United States told Reuters he is counting on a change of heart from President Donald Trump to unwind sanctions against him, which he said lack consensus within the U.S. government. Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes has ratcheted up restraining orders against former President Jair Bolsonaro during his trial for an alleged 2022 coup plot. Trump demanded an end to the case that he calls a "witch hunt" as he slapped a 50% tariff on Brazilian goods and hit Moraes with financial sanctions that are putting Brazil's banks on edge. Despite fears of a spiraling crisis for bilateral relations, the judge expressed confidence in a late Tuesday interview at his Brasilia office that sanctions would be unwound against him via diplomatic channels or an eventual challenge in U.S. courts. "A judicial challenge is possible and I have not yet found a U.S. or Brazilian lawyer or scholar who doubts the courts would overturn. But at this moment, I've chosen to wait. That's my choice. It's a diplomatic matter for the country," said Moraes. The standoff with Trump is the highest-profile test yet for the 56-year-old jurist, whose bald visage and muscular frame have come to define the Brazilian high court he joined eight years ago. He has taken the lead on many of the court's most prominent cases, cowing Elon Musk in a showdown over his social media platform, sending hundreds of right-wing rioters in the capital to prison and barring Bolsonaro from running for office. Navigating the U.S. crackdown on his personal finances and bilateral trade with Brazil has done little to change his routine, he said, which includes boxing, martial arts and a new favorite book: Henry Kissinger's "Leadership," the late U.S. diplomat's final volume on 20th century statecraft. Moraes said he trusts diplomacy will restore his standing in Washington. He said prosecutors blamed the current fallout on a campaign by allies of Bolsonaro, including the former president's lawmaker son Eduardo, who is in the U.S. and under investigation in Brazil for courting Trump's intervention in his father's case. "Once the correct information has been passed along, as is being done now, and the documented information reaches the U.S. authorities, I believe it won't even require any legal action to reverse (the sanctions). I believe that the U.S. executive branch itself, the president, will reverse them," Moraes said. Pressed on the reason for that confidence, Moraes said he was aware of internal divisions in the U.S. government that had slowed the sanctions and could still undermine them. "There was reluctance in the State Department and great reluctance in the Treasury Department," he said, without elaborating or explaining how he received that information. A State Department official with knowledge of the matter told Reuters separately that the sanctions against Moraes had faced substantial pushback from career officials. The actions against Moraes were "completely, legally inappropriate," said the source on condition of anonymity, adding that officials from the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control had initially said no but were overruled. A Treasury spokesperson said: "The Treasury Department and Office of Foreign Assets Control, along with the entire Trump administration, is in lockstep that Alexandre de Moraes has engaged in serious human rights abuse. Rather than concocting a fantasy fiction, de Moraes should stop carrying out arbitrary detentions and politicized prosecutions." The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Brazilian courts could punish Brazilian financial institutions for seizing or blocking domestic assets in response to U.S. orders, Moraes also said in the interview. REUTERS
Straits Times
20 minutes ago
- Straits Times
India test-fires ballistic missile ahead of US tariff hike
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Images posted online that are said to show India's nuclear-capable Agni-5 missile being tested on Aug 20. NEW DELHI - India on Aug 20 test-fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads, a government statement said, in an apparent show of strength ahead of a threatened US tariff increase. The Agni-5 missile was successfully launched in India's eastern Odisha state, with authorities saying it 'validated all operational and technical parameters.' The test-fire came a week before US tariffs are set to double from 25 per cent to 50 per cent, unless India meets President Donald Trump's demand that it stop buying Russian oil. India last tested the Agni-5 missile in March 2024. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said this month that, in the face of US tariffs, India was seeking self-reliance with energy independence and the development of its own defence systems. New Delhi has deepened defence cooperation with Western countries in recent years, including in the Quad alliance with the United States, Japan and Australia as an apparent counter to rival China. But India's relations with China have warmed recently with several bilateral visits, and Mr Modi is scheduled to visit Tianjin later this month in his first visit to the country since 2018. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore 18 persons nabbed and 82 vapes seized in HSA ops in Raffles Place and Haji Lane Singapore 3 Sengkang Green Primary pupils suspended for bullying classmate, with 1 of them caned: MOE Singapore Woman trapped between train doors: Judge rules SBS Transit '100% responsible' Singapore Religion growing in importance for Singaporeans: IPS study Life Record number of arts patrons in 2024, but overall donation dips to $45.74m Life 'Loss that's irreplaceable': Local film-makers mourn closure of Singapore indie cinema The Projector Singapore Nearly 2 years' jail, caning for man caught with at least 100 sexually explicit videos of children Singapore Grab users in Singapore shocked by fares of over $1,000 due to display glitch Agni, meaning 'fire' in Sanskrit, is the name given to a series of rockets India developed as part of a guided missile development project launched in 1983. The Agni-5 employs technology that enables it to carry several nuclear warheads, so they can split up and hit different targets. AFP
