Trump’s business deal with Oman raises new ethical questions

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• Geoff Bennett:

  As former President Donald Trump makes another run at the White House, he's partnering with a key U.S. ally on a new business venture.

  Laura Barron-Lopez has more.

• Laura Barron-Lopez:

  The multibillion-dollar deal between Trump, the government of Oman, and a Saudi firm will develop a luxury complex, according to a new New York Times report.

  And the project is raising serious ethical questions.

  Joining me now is Eric Lipton of The New York Times. He's investigated Trump family international deals since 2016.

  Eric, thanks so much for joining.

  You traveled overseas to investigate this real estate deal, which is located in Yiti, Oman, along the coast east of Oman's capital city, Muscat. And you report that this deal is unlike any international deal so far that the Trump family has signed. Why?

• Eric Lipton, The New York Times:

  In this case, instead of simply having their name being sold to help increase the value of a golf course or condos, they're actually in business with the government of Oman, because the government of Oman owns the land, and it's going to be taking a cut of the profits from this deal.

  And so they are now a partner of a government entity that is doing this multibillion-dollar project that has a 30-year contract with the Trump family. And it's not only for their name. They're going to be reviewing the hotel design. They're going to be helping build the golf course and the golf club. And they're going to be managing the hotel and golf club for decades to come.

  So they're going to have a significant financial stake that involves the government of Oman itself.

• Laura Barron-Lopez:

  Mr. Trump was at the deal-signing in New York City at Trump Tower with Saudi real estate executives in November.

  That was just before he announced his presidential bid. He's already brought in some $5 million from this project. Eric, how much does the former president stand to benefit?

• Eric Lipton:

  In fact, the Trump Organization and the Saudi real estate company that is the lead developer on the project would not tell us how much they're going to be paid.

  It's going to be in the tens of millions of dollars over the course of the life of the contract, but we just really have no idea, because they won't tell us. And if he is — as a candidate, and if he's reelected as president, he will have to file financial disclosure reports, at least annually, and we will get some idea of how much he's making in the next several years.

  But we don't know, in total, how much he's going to make. But it's a very big project. It's one of the biggest projects that the Trump family internationally has ever been involved in.

• Laura Barron-Lopez:

  That gets me to my next question, Eric, which is, what are the potential conflicts of interest here?

• Eric Lipton:

  Well, I mean, Oman is in a really sensitive location.

  I mean, it's just 20 miles across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran. It's right next to the United Arab Emirates, and it's close to Saudi Arabia. And it is sort of an intermediary between the Saudi political concerns and the Iranian concerns. And it actually is a place where, recently, Biden administration officials have gone to potentially talk to Iran about resolving some of our differences.

  So if — at the same time as — this is a country that we have provided F-16 fighter jets and missiles to. And to think that then comes into the mix the considerations as to, well, how will this negotiation we're having over Iran or over Saudi Arabia, how might it impact our deal over managing a hotel and golf resort complex, and is it going to hurt our relationship with the Omani government, that that's even part of the calculus and is — and might they do a better deal for Oman because they have millions of dollars or billions of dollars riding on it, is a question that an American president has never faced before.

• Laura Barron-Lopez:

  Right. That's if he were to be reelected again to office.

  And, Eric, you report that this is not the only business deal that the Trump family has crafted in the Middle East. Federal prosecutors who recently charged Mr. Trump for mishandling classified documents were also seeking information about those other deals in the Middle East.

  Can you just connect the dots for us about why it matters that the former president has all of these ties to that region?

• Eric Lipton:

  I mean, to some extent, you would say, well, if you look at what he did as president, it's not surprising.

  Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, was doing shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East as they were trying to reach some decline in tension between Israel and some of the Arab nations, and that Trump was quite engaged with Saudi Arabia after the Khashoggi murder and defending actions there and downplaying the role of the Saudi government.

  He was quite friendly with Saudi Arabia. And so now, after he leaves office, his son-in-law gets $2 billion worth of investment from the Saudi public sovereign — sovereign wealth fund. And then the sovereign wealth fund always — also LIV Golf. And LIV Golf puts several of its tournaments at Trump golf courses in the United States.

  And this — there's a lot of money between the Middle Eastern companies, be it in Saudi Arabia or now in Oman, and Trump business operations that overlap with his activities as president. What were those deals and reward for his actions as president? It's an open question.

  But, again, we have never seen something like this in — even in the aftermath of a presidency, where a president is profiting as much from a foreign government that he — foreign governments that he was closely active with during his presidency

• Laura Barron-Lopez:

  Eric Lipton of The New York Times, thank you so much.

• Eric Lipton:

  Thank you.