All about the US president’s new luxury resort – Firstpost

The Trump Organization has unveiled a new luxury resort in the Maldives built with the support of Saudi-linked real-estate developer Dar Global.

The project is unique because of its focus on a blockchain-powered investment model.

The announcement coincided with United States President Donald Trump’s renewed engagement with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his first return to Washington on Tuesday.

What we know about the Trump Maldives resort

Trump International Hotel Maldives is being projected as a premier hospitality venture in the Indian Ocean archipelago.

The property will be located approximately 25 minutes by speedboat from the country’s capital, Male’, placing it within easy reach of the country’s primary airport, while still maintaining the seclusion typical of the Maldives’ upscale island resorts.

According to details released so far, the development will consist of approximately 80 villas, split between beach residences and stilted overwater structures.

Only one conceptual image has been shared publicly at this point, showing a villa with a curved, organic-style roof that opens onto a huge, teardrop-shaped waterfront pool.

While the renderings don’t necessarily reflect the final design, early visuals show that the developers intend to position the resort at the highest level of island luxury.

The Trump Organization described the residences as “designed for discerning global travelers seeking the highest levels of privacy, exclusivity and sophistication.” The resort is scheduled to open in late 2028.

Once operational, it will add another property to the company’s global accommodation portfolio, which currently includes locations in the United States, Scotland, Ireland, the Middle East and parts of Asia.

The Maldives project also expands the Trump family’s presence in a region where luxury tourism is highly competitive and where many global hospitality brands compete for wealthy clients.

How unique is Trump’s Maldives resort?

Perhaps the most unconventional aspect of the Maldives project is its proposed funding method. In contrast to the Trump Organization’s traditional approach – which is often based on licensing the brand to developers who undertake construction – the new resort is set to be partially financed through tokens in its development phase.

This structure uses blockchain technology to create digital tokens that represent stakes tied to the project’s construction funds.

The companies involved are presenting this as the first initiative of its kind in the hotel sector.

Dar Global’s statement reflects this idea as a pioneering approach.

“This pioneering collaboration not only brings the Trump brand to one of the world’s most exclusive destinations, but also introduces an unprecedented financial innovation, marking the first time the development of a luxury hospitality project. Unlike previous models, which marked completed properties, this initiative marks the development phase itself, giving investors the opportunity to participate in a high-growth, premium real estate project from the very beginning.”

Eric Trump, speaking on behalf of the Trump Organization, outlined the move as part of a broader strategy to integrate blockchain technologies into the company’s real-estate ventures.

He said, “We are delighted to bring the Trump brand to the Maldives in collaboration with Dar Global. This development will not only redefine luxury in the region but will also set a new benchmark for innovation in real estate investing through tokenization.”

Dar Global sees this initiative as part of a wider transformation in global property investment.

Its CEO, Ziad El Char, said, “Dar Global is pushing the boundaries from developing world-class destinations to pioneering new investment structures. Marking the evolution of Trump International Hotel Maldives is a global debut that blends luxury, innovation and technology in a way that will change the way the world invests in hospitality.”

El Char explained in the comments bloomberg The tokens will correspond to shares in the financing fund created for the resort, and Dar Global intends to retain between 30 percent and 40 percent of the total stake.

Although the exact financial returns or specific rights associated with the token have not been publicly outlined, the structure is being promoted as a way for buyers to gain access to opportunities typically reserved for traditional real-estate financiers.

The Trump Organization did not provide additional clarity on whether token holders will share in profits, receive other benefits, or have any governance-related rights.

How Trump & Co. are moving toward crypto-based investing

The developments in the Maldives highlight broader changes within Trump’s business empire. With the US President busy in Washington, day-to-day leadership of the family’s international enterprises has increasingly fallen to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.

Both brothers have become strong supporters of blockchain technology and digital asset-based commerce, joining the company with a growing group of crypto-related enterprises.

Crypto has already played a role in several of the Trump family’s business ventures, and the US president himself has taken policy steps promoting the industry, including executive action in support of crypto markets and passing new US legislation related to stable coins.

Eric Trump, speaking to a crypto publication a few months before the Maldives project was unveiled, described an approach in which investors could purchase fractional interests in prime real-estate developments through token structures.

He suggested that such tokens could also provide special privileges to their holders, such as dining benefits or access to amenities tied to the property.

He said it would give “ordinary people a chance to be a part of something we do” and that under the specific funding arrangement, “they want to be a part of it, and in any other scenario they might not have had access to that project.”

How Trump has cooperated with Saudi in this project

The Maldives project is being executed with Dar Global, a unit of Dar Al Arkan – one of Saudi Arabia’s most prominent real-estate developers.

The Saudi-linked firm has been a longtime partner of the Trump Organization, particularly in the Gulf, where they have collaborated on several large-scale ventures in recent years.

Projects under the Trump-Dar Global banner include hospitality developments, golf estates, luxury residences and branded towers in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Dubai and Qatar.

The companies are also working together on flagship towers in Jeddah and Dubai, as well as other properties in the Middle East. The Maldives Resort represents the extension of this partnership beyond the Gulf to South Asia.

The Trump Organization rarely invests directly in building overseas projects and generally operates through branding and management agreements.

However, in the Maldives initiative, the organization is more centrally located in the financial model due to the token development structure.

The arrangement brings the Trump family’s real-estate strategy closer to the funding mechanics often used in crypto-oriented ventures, rather than the exclusive licensing agreements that have historically defined the Trump brand internationally.

with inputs from agencies