Donald Trump has had business dealings with the Saudis for decades. The big money arrived after he became president.
“For the record,” Donald Trump tweeted on Oct. 16, 2018, one day after parroting a claim from Saudi Arabia’s king that he did not know what happened to murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi, “I have no financial interests in Saudi Arabia (or Russia, for that matter). Any suggestion that I have is just more FAKE NEWS (of which there is plenty)!”
Trump may not have had any interests in Saudi Arabia at the time, but he had done sporadic business with Saudi Arabia, offloading the Plaza Hotel to a Saudi prince in 1995 and selling a set of condos to the Saudi government in 2001. Trump’s ties to the Arab nation grew stronger in the wake of the Khashoggi murder, however, especially after his first term in office ended. Since then, the president and his family struck at least nine deals with Saudi investors, pushing millions into the president’s golf properties, tens of millions into his licensing business and billions into private-equity funds, according to Forbes calculations. In 2024 alone, Trump and his extended family collected an estimated $50 million from deals connected to Saudi Arabia.
All that money may help explain why Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the man the U.S. intelligence community believes approved a plan to capture or kill Khashoggi, is expected to receive a warm welcome when he returns to the White House on Tuesday. The prince, who has said he did not order the murder, will surely want to focus on other matters. There’s much to discuss: military equipment, oil supplies, peace negotiations and—of course—money, the topic that has bound Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia for decades.
1987
Amid a spending spree—which includes the purchase of a football team, an airline and the Plaza Hotel—Trump doles out $29 million for a nearly 300-foot-yacht originally commissioned by Adnan Khashoggi, a Saudi arms dealer who also happened to be the cousin of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The boat, named Trump Princess, becomes something of a high-priced billboard for Trump’s casino empire. “He always said that he didn’t like it—that Ivana wanted it and liked the yacht,” recalls Alan Marcus, a communications consultant who worked with Trump back in the day.
1990
Spy magazine tests the rich and famous by sending a series of ever-shrinking checks to see who will spend the time depositing them. Only two people bother to cash the final check, for a whopping 13 cents: Donald Trump and Adnan Khashoggi.
1991
If only the checks had been bigger. A mountain of casino-fueled debt crashes down on Trump, leading to a string of bankruptcies. Under pressure, the real-estate mogul parts with some of his toys, including the Trump Princess yacht, which ends up in the hands of Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud.
1995
Trump offloads the Plaza Hotel to Alwaleed as well, along with Singaporean billionaire Kwek Leng Beng, in a sale that values the property at $325 million—about $80 million less than the New York tycoon paid for it. Trump calls the deal a “home run.”
2001
Trump sells the entire 45th floor of Trump World Tower, with five apartments and a combined 10,000 square feet near the United Nations, to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for $12 million, according to an analysis of real-estate records. “Saudi Arabia, and I get along great with all of them—they buy apartments from me,” Trump says at a campaign event in 2015. “Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.”
August 2015
Two months after launching his first presidential campaign, Donald Trump creates eight new business entities, including THC Jeddah Hotel Manager LLC and DT Jeddah Technical Services Manager LLC. The naming conventions of those companies resemble other entities Trump uses with far-flung licensing and management deals, such as ones in Indonesia and Vancouver. Trump does not officially announce a project in Jeddah, but the existence of the companies suggests he may have been working on one during his 2016 campaign. Asked about this, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt acted like the president had a pristine record on ethics: “Neither the president nor his family have ever engaged, or will ever engage, in conflicts of interest,” she said in a statement. Representatives of the Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment.
October 26, 2016
The Trump International Hotel officially opens in Washington, D.C., guaranteeing the president an address on Pennsylvania Avenue regardless of whether he wins the election. The Saudi government quickly pays its respects, spending at least $270,000 there by the end of March 2017, $78,000 of it on catering.
May 20, 2017
Trump takes his first trip as president to Saudi Arabia instead of a traditional destination like Canada, Mexico or the United Kingdom. “Great to be in Riyadh,” the president tweets, alongside a picture of King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud greeting him on a red carpet in front of Air Force One. The next day, Trump touches a glowing orb alongside the king. A photo of the moment goes viral.
2021
Out of office, first son-in-law Jared Kushner opens a private-equity shop named Affinity Partners. By 2024, Kushner secures capital commitments of $2 billion from the Saudi government’s Public Investment Fund, according to a letter from Ron Wyden, former chairman of the Senate’s Committee on Finance. Those funds, committed through August 2026, come with a 1.25% management fee, suggesting the Saudis will pay Kushner’s firm at least $125 million over five years, helping push Kushner’s personal net worth north of $1 billion. A spokesperson for Kushner did not respond to a request for comment.
July 2022
The Saudi-backed LIV Golf, which threw barrels of petrodollars at some of the sport’s biggest stars to create a league rivaling the PGA Tour, visits Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. An income statement obtained by Forbes suggests the president’s club received about $800,000 for hosting the event.
November 19, 2022
The Trump Organization announces its first new licensing deal overseas in years, agreeing to brand a project from Saudi developer Dar Al Arkan in Oman. The deal sends more than $6 million from the Saudi firm to Donald Trump.
July 1, 2024
Dar Al Arkan adds a Trump deal in its home country, announcing Trump Tower Jeddah through an arm named Dar Global. A venture called DT Marks KSA LLC, which appears to collect the money associated with Trump’s deals in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, reports $15.9 million of licensing fees. Representatives of Dar Al Arkan did not respond to a request for comment.
December 9, 2024
A month after Trump wins a second term in the White House, Dar Global announces two more Trump projects in Riyadh. “These developments will redefine luxury living in Saudi Arabia’s capital,” boasts an executive with the Saudi firm.
April 3, 2025
As global markets tumble in response to the president’s tariff plans, Trump jets to Miami, where he attends a LIV Golf dinner leading into an event for the Saudi-backed league at his Trump National Doral golf resort.
May 13, 2025
For the second time, Trump travels to Riyadh early in his term, kicking off a three-nation tour of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar—all countries where the Trump Organization is actively working on real-estate deals with Saudi Arabia’s Dar Al Arkan.
September 29, 2025
Dar Global announces a second Trump property in Jeddah, dubbed Trump Plaza Jeddah, which will include offices, apartments and a green space inspired by Central Park.
September 29, 2025
Kushner’s Affinity Partners teams up with Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund to buy videogame giant Electronic Arts for $55 billion. Less than a month later, Kushner is working with Arab leaders to try to bring about a peace deal in Gaza. “What people call ‘conflicts of interest,’ [U.S. Ambassador-at-Large] Steve [Witkoff] and I call ‘experience and trusted relationships that we have throughout the world,’” Kushner tells “60 Minutes.”
October 29, 2025
Donald Trump Jr., the president’s eldest son, makes his first trip to Saudi Arabia for an investment summit that draws a who’s who of Wall Street, including Blackstone’s Stephen Schwarzman, Carlyle’s David Rubenstein, Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio and JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon. Also in attendance: Omeed Malik, a private-equity investor whose 1789 Capital brought on Don Jr. and tasked the president’s son with, among other things, raising capital. “Who would have thought 20 years ago that anyone with a few brain cells would be investing in the Middle East versus anywhere in Europe?” Don Jr. marvels on stage. “I think the opportunity over here in the region is spectacular.”
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