The Trump Organization is in talks that could bring a Trump-branded property to one of Saudi Arabia’s largest government-owned real estate developments, according to the chief executive of the Saudi company leading the development.
The negotiations are the latest example of Mr. Trump blending governance and family business, particularly in Persian Gulf countries. Since returning to office, the president’s family and businesses have announced new ventures abroad involving billions of dollars, made hundreds of millions from cryptocurrency, and sold tickets to a private dinner hosted by Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump is set to host Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, in Washington next week.
The prince is overseeing a $63 billion project that is set to transform the historic Saudi town of Diriyah into a luxury destination with hotels, retail shops and office space. The Trump business has a history of lending its name to mixed-use projects touting “iconic luxury.”
“Nothing announced yet, but soon to be,” Jerry Inzerillo, chief executive of the Diriyah development and a longtime friend of President Trump, said in an interview. He said it was “just a matter of time” before the Trump Organization sealed a deal.
Saudi officials toured the Diriyah development with Mr. Trump during the president’s official state visit in May, with the goal of piquing his interest in the project, Mr. Inzerillo said.
“It turned out to be a good stroke of luck and maybe a little bit clever of us to say, ‘OK, let’s appeal to him as a developer’ — and he loved it,” Mr. Inzerillo said.
Next week, Prince Mohammed is expected to make his first visit to the United States in seven years. He hopes to sign a mutual defense agreement with Washington and potentially advance a deal to transfer American nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia.
That sets up a scenario in which Mr. Trump discusses matters of national security with a foreign leader who is also a key figure in a potential business deal with the president’s family.
Deal-making and diplomacy are increasingly intertwined for Mr. Trump and his family members. Some have engaged in business talks around the world in tandem with his statecraft, mingling profit-making ventures with political relationships.
Diriyah is one of several ongoing Saudi developments that are so big that officials call them “giga-projects.”
The Trump Organization did not respond to questions about the potential deal, nor did Eric Trump, one of Mr. Trump’s two sons overseeing the family business. It can be hard to separate hype from reality in international real estate discussions. Speculation doesn’t always lead to negotiations, and negotiations don’t always end in signed contracts.
But Mr. Inzerillo’s comments echoed similar remarks from Dar Global, the Trump Organization’s most important foreign business partner and a key conduit to Arab governments and Gulf companies.
Dar Global’s chief executive, Ziad El Chaar, said last month that new Trump projects in Saudi Arabia were coming. “You will see us announcing more collaborations with the giga-projects,” he told the Middle East news site Al-Monitor.
Dar Global did not say whether those remarks referred to Diriyah or another yet-to-be-announced deal. All of the giga-projects are owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund.
Dar did not respond to requests for comment.
Coupled with Mr. Inzerillo’s comments, Mr. El Chaar’s remarks highlight what has been a flurry of Gulf deal-making for Mr. Trump’s family since last year.
In Saudi Arabia, a Trump tower is planned for Jeddah, and two projects have been announced in Riyadh. A Trump hotel and tower has moved forward in Dubai, the largest city in the United Arab Emirates. And a golf course deal in Qatar has put the Trump family in business with a government-owned real estate firm there.
Mr. El Chaar and Dar guided all of those deals. “We launched with a partnership with the esteemed Trump Organization that immediately put the project on the global map,” Mr. El Chaar said last year in Oman, speaking about a Trump golf course and hotel under construction there as part of a project backed by Oman’s government.
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Each venture generates licensing fees for using the Trump name. Dar paid the Trump Organization $21.9 million in license fees last year, according to his financial disclosure. Some of that money goes to the president himself.
Licensing deals can be lucrative, particularly if a development does well. Often, a company is paid for the use of its name and is not required to invest any money in the project itself. The Trump Organization’s licensing agreements are not public, making it impossible to know the terms.
Dar Global, a subsidiary of the major Saudi development firm Dar Al Arkan, has close ties to the Saudi government. The firm’s sales offices in London and Riyadh feature architectural models of yet-to-be-built Trump-branded high-rises. Promotional materials feature photos of Trump family members.
