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Donald Trump isn’t backing down from his call to indefinitely ban Muslim people from immigrating to the U.S. despite international condemnation, but the GOP presidential candidate’s business practices tell a more complicated and hypocritical story.
The Republican front-runner shocked many with his xenophobia Monday, and followed his announcement with an interview on ABC’s Live with Kelly and Michael Wednesday, defending his proposal by telling hosts Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan: “This has nothing to do with religion; it’s about safety.”
Our country is facing a major threat from radical Islamic terrorism. We better get very smart, and very tough, FAST, before it is too late!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2015
Wow, what a day. So many foolish people that refuse to acknowledge the tremendous danger and uncertainty of certain people coming into U.S.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 9, 2015
Despite this, Trump has a long history of business partnership with countries in the Middle East, and has expanded his brands there in recent years. These include active business interests and managed properties multiple countries with overwhelmingly Muslim populations — such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey, and Azerbaijan — which seem increasingly at odds with the candidate’s current stance that Muslims are “people that believe only in jihad.”
1. Trump International Golf Club Dubai & Trump World Golf Club Dubai
Dubai company keeping golf partnership with Donald Trump in spite of his anti-Muslim rant: https://t.co/vbGZmeBrtg pic.twitter.com/Akn99l23hw
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) December 8, 2015
“I always wanted to come back and pay the great tribute to Dubai. We never forgot Dubai. It was always a place where we wanted to be and, now, we are here in a very big way,” Trump told Emirates 24/7 about Trump International Golf Club Dubai last year. The luxury golf course, which is scheduled to open in 2016 in partnership with Dubai-based DAMAC Properties, is actually one of two luxury golf properties Trump Organization plans to open in UAE. The second is Trump World Golf Club, also working with DAMAC as the builder.
Ironically, given Trump’s recent anti-Muslim sentiments, 76 percent of UAE citizens practice Islam.
That disconnect isn’t lost on DAMAC Properties, who initially tried to distance themselves from Trump’s recent remarks while standing by their business partner. As of Thursday, however, the development group changed their mind, reportedly dropping the Trump name from the Trump International Golf Club Dubai project.
https://twitter.com/ElephantSpeed/status/675003702101458944
2. Trump Towers, Istanbul
https://twitter.com/mgroob/status/673988084728401920
Trump Organization also lists the conjoined Trump Towers in Istanbul, Turkey, in the current Trump portfolio. The $400-million project wasn’t the only one planned for Turkey either. Trump previously told Bloomberg Business that the towers were “a great success” and that they have “made Turkey one of our priorities for real estate investment.”
In Turkey, 99 percent of the country’s citizens are Muslim.
3. Trump International Hotel & Tower Baku
Trump to Build Trump International Hotel & Tower in Baku, Azerbaijan. #realestate #commercial http://t.co/fgmG0eqX1g pic.twitter.com/YijbCAerjp
— Ikon Property Group (@ikonproperty) November 10, 2014
This Trump group hotel is expected to open in late 2016 in Azerbaijan, also a predominantly Muslim country with 96.9 percent of the population. According to Trump’s campaign disclosure forms, it brings him $2.5 million in management fees for lending his name to the project.
4. Trump International Hotel & Tower
Trump palling around in Dubai with his Muslim BFF! pic.twitter.com/xE8Udml7ak
— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) December 9, 2015
This project never got off the ground because Dubai’s property bubble burst and it was officially canceled in 2011. Trump’s hotel group did announce their plans to continue hotel development in the region in 2013. Hiring a Dubai-based executive, Trump signaled that he wanted to expand his brand dramatically, setting a goal of having 30 hotels in the region by 2020.
5. Trump International Hotel & Tower Bali
Trump building resorts in Java, Bali @trumpcollection http://t.co/hINQ2bE4Z9 pic.twitter.com/MR9dVY5sOM
— spabusiness.com (@spabusinessmag) September 23, 2015
Although not a Muslim country, 87 percent of Indonesians practice Islam, which makes this another surprising country for Trump to do big business in. Trump Hotel Collection announced plans to open the luxury resort in August.
And there’s more.
This likely isn’t the end of Trump’s dealings with Muslims in business either. Ivanka Trump told Hotelier Middle East in May, “We are looking at multiple opportunities in Abu Dhabi, in Qatar, in Saudi Arabia.”
Screengrab via Donald Trump/YouTube | Remix by Jason Reed
