Trump’s sons set to attend closed-door event in Dubai
Trump International Golf Club in Dubai to open this weekend.
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES — President Donald Trump’s two sons in charge of his global business empire will attend a closeddoor event this weekend to mark the opening of the Trump International Golf Club in Dubai, organizers said Wednesday.
The ceremony in the Middle East city-state home to the world’s tallest building marks the first major event abroad that Eric and Donald Jr. will attend together since their father’s inauguration.
It also comes as questions still swirl about how the Trump Organization’s many international business interests will affect the administration of America’s 45th president.
A l r e a d y, a l i b e r a l - f u n d e d watchdog group has filed a lawsuit alleging his business violates the so-called emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Meanwhile, news reports have described Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe huddling with staff over a North Korea ballistic missile launch in front of diners and waiters at his Florida resort — Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach — this past weekend.
The 18-hole Dubai golf course is part of a larger villa and apartment building project by DAMAC Properties, a Dubai-based developer owned by billionaire Hussain Sajwani. Recently renamed DAMAC Hills, the project sur- rounds the golf club managed by the Trump Organization.
One of the Trump Organization’s subsidiaries received from $1 million to $5 million from DAMAC, according to a U.S. Federal Election Committee report submitted in May. Sajwani and his family also attended a New Year’s Eve celebration at the Mar-a-Lago Club, while Trump days later told journalists that DAMAC had offered the Trump Organization $2 billion in deals.
The Dubai golf course marks Trump’s first successful venture in the Arab world. Another Trump-managed golf course is planned for another even larger DAMAC project under development and the developer has been putting up billboards around Dubai a dver t i s i ng t he newly opened course.
Trump’s two sons, who took over management of the Trump Organization after their father stepped aside, had been anticipated to attend the ceremonial opening of the Dubai course. The Trump Organization earlier referred questions about the event to DAMAC.
DA M AC s p o k e s m a n N i a l l McLoughlin told The Assoc iated Press on Wednesday that the ceremony Saturday would be a “closed event.” He declined to elaborate.
It’s unclear what security precautions will be taken for the visit, as experts already have warned the Trump brand abroad now faces a global terror risk.
Both Eric and Donald Jr. receive Secret Service protection as immediate family members of the president. The U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi has declined to comment about the trip.