Republican frontrunner Donald Trump set up four companies related to a possible hotel project in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia while campaigning for president in August 2015, according to a report by BuzzFeed news, citing the candidate’s latest financial disclosure filings released on Wednesday.
According to the report, on August 21, 2015, Trump became president and owner of the newly minted THC Jeddah Hotel Advisor and DT Jeddah Technical Services Advisor, as well as two other companies potentially related to the development.
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Trump has “between about $61 million and $173 million in stocks, bonds, cash and other relatively liquid holdings.”
It is not known precisely why the Jeddah-related companies were incorporated.
Trump Tower in New York City.
Trump’s relationship with the Arab world is frosty at best. The businessman-turned-politician has drawn a sharp response by many in the Middle East and beyond over his rhetoric toward Muslims, including his comments indicating that he would seek a ban on Muslims entering the U.S.
By December 2015, major commercial stores in Saudi Arabia and across the G.C.C. had removed products linked to Trump for seeking the ban, and some of the region’s top businessmen have criticized him for his comments.
In remarks made in April, Trump blasted Saudi Arabia’s leaders for threatening to pull out holdings in response to the controversial JASTA bill, which passed the Senate yesterday.
“Look, we protect Saudi Arabia. We protect them for peanuts. And, you know, if we weren’t protecting them…they wouldn’t be there for a week. And we protect them and we protect others,” Trump said.
“We don’t get reimbursed fair numbers. Ever wonder why we’re $19 trillion in debt? But we’re like the policeman to the world… we don’t get what we should be getting.”
