Easier to do business in India than in China, says Trump Jr
The nice thing, according to Donald Trump Junior, about his father being the President of the United States is the view of Trump Hotel from the White House lawns in Washington DC. The rest seems to be quite a struggle.
Executive Vice-President of the Trump Organization Donald Trump Junior said his company had not made any new deals since his father assumed the most powerful office in the world.
During a media interaction in Delhi on Tuesday, he said dealing with media, accusations, threats to his family, as well as not being allowed to do business freely have been quite frustrating and challenging for him.
Trump Junior is on a business visit to India and will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a business summit in the Capital later this week.
While his company was not planning any new venture in India, he said whenever the opportunity arose, Trump Organization would get into more of the residential, commercial and hospitality space. He even went on to say that doing business in India was better than doing so in China as things were more transparent here.
Father an incredible visionary
Recapping the presidential campaign that his father led, Trump Junior talked about how his father won the top job against all odds. “My father is an incredible visionary, anything that he has put his mind to, he had succeeded in it. I am trying to avoid talking about politics for obvious reasons. But, when you think about what he had accomplished there, he was against the largest political machinery ever assembled with one-tenth of the money, one-tenth of the staff and zero chance of winning, according to every expert in the world. But, still he did it because he is an incredible visionary,” he said.
Can not do business with virtually anyone
According to Trump Junior, since his father took office, the level of scrutiny has been quite frustrating. “If I try and do a deal with someone that anyone in America can deal with today, if that person even had a speeding ticket when they were 16 years old, itison the frontpage of the Washington Post. There is a lot more natural difficulty that is imposedon us in doing business than on anyone. But it is okay, I understand it,” he said.
Claiming the company had turned away from opportunities worth millions of dollars, if not billions, due to the fear of political ramifications, Trump Junior said most of the accusations had been proved wrong. “The amount of scrutiny, if I say something, and I am joking and smiling, they will interpret it however they want to, in order to fit whatever narrative. What I'd seen in the media is disgusting, I have spent quite a bit of time trying to actually point that out. Now, every time I hit that button, it is picked up everywhere, so the level of scrutiny is ridiculous,” he said.
India’ s market better than China
Talking about his India plans, Trump said he planned to take the association forward as doing business in India was easier than doing so in China. “As a businessman, I feel things here are substantially more above board,” he said. “I think the mentality of the people (in comparison with China) is the same. I think there is probably a little more honesty.”
Trump Organization has licensing pacts with local business partners, M3M and Tribeca Developers, for constructing 254 apartments at a price bracket of ~55 million to ~110 million ranging from 3,500 sq ft to 4,500 sq ft in Gurugram. The project will be completed in March 2023.
Since its entry into the Indian real estate market in 2014, four Trump Towers, with total revenue potential of $1.5 billion, have been launched in Pune, Mumbai, Gurugram and Kolkata. The fifth one, expected to be a commercial office project, is likely to be launched soon. Trump, however, refused to disclose the revenue model for the India business.